7 out of every 10 Fentanyl pills seized by DEA contain a lethal dose • Hacker News Board

Re: 7 out of every 10 Fentanyl pills seized by DEA contain a lethal dose

#31

Post by coffeebeqn » Thu, Apr 04, 2024, 2:24 AM UTC

worik wrote: post #6

Do you think legalising safer drugs, like Heroin, would be a sensible step? [Edit: I do] I advocate legalising Opium straight away. I think Heroin is a step further than required. How many people have to die from synthetic opiate overdose? The obvious public health measure is to legalise the much safer natural alternatives.

Legalize it in what manner? Fentanyl is legal - it’s used by hospitals all over the country. Should you be able to buy opium at the corner store? I’m not sure that would be good for almost anyone given the dependence you build on it very quickly.

What’s the Bull case for more people having easy access to opium products ?

Re: 7 out of every 10 Fentanyl pills seized by DEA contain a lethal dose

#32

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Apr 04, 2024, 2:25 AM UTC

metadat wrote: post #2

So maybe start with a quarter tablet? .. Genuine question: How does it make fiscal business sense to kill your customers after one hit? Edit: thank you all for your informative replies

[deleted]

Re: 7 out of every 10 Fentanyl pills seized by DEA contain a lethal dose

#33

Post by FredPret » Thu, Apr 04, 2024, 2:25 AM UTC

worik wrote: post #6

Do you think legalising safer drugs, like Heroin, would be a sensible step? [Edit: I do] I advocate legalising Opium straight away. I think Heroin is a step further than required. How many people have to die from synthetic opiate overdose? The obvious public health measure is to legalise the much safer natural alternatives.

Some time ago, when I was a young man with right-wing persuasions, I listened to the arguments of left-wingers like John Oliver in favour of legalization. I was convinced. Let the free market sort itself out, I thought.

Boy did ever I take a sharp turn towards the political center on this in the years since. Some regulations have a very high return on investment, and controlling/banning the crap out of fentanyl is one of those.

Re: 7 out of every 10 Fentanyl pills seized by DEA contain a lethal dose

#34

Post by FredPret » Thu, Apr 04, 2024, 2:27 AM UTC

worik wrote: post #25

throwaway74432 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just because a drug doesn't kill you physically, doesn't mean it doesn't harm you in other deeply profound ways. Related: Nuggets[1] 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUngLgGRJpo

Opiates, and many classes of illegal drugs, do very little harm. Addiction is the main feature, and if the substance has no artificial scarcity, addiction is easy to manage. There is no basis on harm reduction for the drug policies being pursued in most of the world

Tell this to the addicts who live on my sidewalk. Many of them got started on pain killers, and now they're permanently bent over in the fentanyl flop; I'd be astounded if any of them ever get better.

Re: 7 out of every 10 Fentanyl pills seized by DEA contain a lethal dose

#35

Post by coldtea » Thu, Apr 04, 2024, 2:27 AM UTC

sneak wrote: post #9

worik wrote: post #6

Do you think legalising safer drugs, like Heroin, would be a sensible step? [Edit: I do] I advocate legalising Opium straight away. I think Heroin is a step further than required. How many people have to die from synthetic opiate overdose? The obvious public health measure is to legalise the much safer natural alternatives.

Cigarettes are already legal despite killing 7x as many in the US as all opioids combined every day, week, month, and year. US drug policy is not about harm reduction or life saving, and never has been.

>Cigarettes are already legal despite killing 7x as many in the US as all opioids combined every day, week, month, and year.

That's because they do it after at least decades of use and for a much smaller percentage (if opioids were used by the same number of people, we'd be knee-deep on corspes in the streets), and they don't affect nowhere near as much (if at all) the general functioning or mental health of their users.

Even the average user's health is not really that affected, unless they get C after decades of use. There are much worse offenders (like eating and a sedentary lifestyle).

Re: 7 out of every 10 Fentanyl pills seized by DEA contain a lethal dose

#36

Post by sp332 » Thu, Apr 04, 2024, 2:27 AM UTC

metadat wrote: post #2

So maybe start with a quarter tablet? .. Genuine question: How does it make fiscal business sense to kill your customers after one hit? Edit: thank you all for your informative replies

"Bay Area police union leader allegedly smuggled fentanyl into US to sell in bulk" https://abcnews.go.com/US/bay-area-police-union-leader-alleg...

Re: 7 out of every 10 Fentanyl pills seized by DEA contain a lethal dose

#37

Post by ProjectArcturis » Thu, Apr 04, 2024, 2:27 AM UTC

worik wrote: post #25

throwaway74432 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just because a drug doesn't kill you physically, doesn't mean it doesn't harm you in other deeply profound ways. Related: Nuggets[1] 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUngLgGRJpo

Opiates, and many classes of illegal drugs, do very little harm. Addiction is the main feature, and if the substance has no artificial scarcity, addiction is easy to manage. There is no basis on harm reduction for the drug policies being pursued in most of the world

Long-term opiate use can really mess up your bowels. Matthew Perry nearly died of a perforated colon a couple years before he finally died from other drugs.

Re: 7 out of every 10 Fentanyl pills seized by DEA contain a lethal dose

#38

Post by FredPret » Thu, Apr 04, 2024, 2:27 AM UTC

jordanb wrote: post #28

huytersd wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Legalizing opiates is silly. It only takes a handful of times to get hooked and people currently use alcohol for months on end to get through hard times. Anyone with even a slight propensity for substance abuse would be an addict within a year. Contrary to the popular narrative it’s not super simple to get opiates and honestly it’s not on most people’s radars to even seek it out.

The US effectively had legalized opiates during the Oxycontin era. Many people were addicted to these drugs under order of their doctor. Then their supply was cutoff and they started seeing illicit sources. Enter: Fentanyl.

So a little bit of control early on (at the doctor stage) would have cut the head off this particular dragon then.

Re: 7 out of every 10 Fentanyl pills seized by DEA contain a lethal dose

#39

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Apr 04, 2024, 2:28 AM UTC

worik wrote: post #6

Do you think legalising safer drugs, like Heroin, would be a sensible step? [Edit: I do] I advocate legalising Opium straight away. I think Heroin is a step further than required. How many people have to die from synthetic opiate overdose? The obvious public health measure is to legalise the much safer natural alternatives.

[deleted]

Re: 7 out of every 10 Fentanyl pills seized by DEA contain a lethal dose

#40

Post by FredPret » Thu, Apr 04, 2024, 2:29 AM UTC

sneak wrote: post #9

worik wrote: post #6

Do you think legalising safer drugs, like Heroin, would be a sensible step? [Edit: I do] I advocate legalising Opium straight away. I think Heroin is a step further than required. How many people have to die from synthetic opiate overdose? The obvious public health measure is to legalise the much safer natural alternatives.

Cigarettes are already legal despite killing 7x as many in the US as all opioids combined every day, week, month, and year. US drug policy is not about harm reduction or life saving, and never has been.

Cigarette users don't nearly always spiral into behaviors that are both self-destructive, heartbreaking to family, and sometimes violently criminal toward the innocent bystanders nearby.