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Why aren't fentanyl test strips more widespread? (2021)

healthaffairs.org

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Re: Why aren't fentanyl test strips more widespread? (2021)

#51

Post by PragmaticPulp »

rjbwork wrote: post #38
DantesKite wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Decriminalisation doesn’t seem to be working in San Francisco.

Decrim without legalization or free supply to addicts doesn't do a lot for the poverty side of things. People are still going to spend every cent they can scrape together on their drug. We could supply the entire country's heroin/fent supply for probably 1/1000 what the average street user is paying for their doses, and we could prevent overdoses since there would be a chemically pure version of the drug with a label…

> We could supply the entire country's heroin/fent supply for probably 1/1000 what the average street user is paying for their doses

Nonsense. It's not that cheap to manufacture (under regulated conditions) and distribute opioids like that. 1/1000th of the price? Even the cheapest, most easily manufactured commercial opioid medications aren't coming anywhere near that after decades of optimization the manufacturing processes.

Re: Why aren't fentanyl test strips more widespread? (2021)

#53

Post by sonicggg »

rayiner wrote: post #5

> people who use drugs (PWUD) New acronym just dropped. :-/

Sometimes I think people who are writing these dumb articles are living in a parallel world. Nobody in real life would use these expressions, the word they are looking for is junkie or addict. Are they trying to sound fancy or what?

Re: Why aren't fentanyl test strips more widespread? (2021)

#55

Post by 13of40 »

l0ng1nu5 wrote: post #9

The real question we should be asking is why can't these poor people get access to proper medicine and treatment? Instead they have to resort to playing Russian roulette every time they use. Decriminalisation and regulation are the biggest harm reduction measures that could be taken and it would have the added bonus of freeing up space in the prisons and reducing the power of the cartels. There wouldn't be a fent pro…

> why can't these poor people get access to proper medicine and treatment?

Speaking of the US, one of the issues is that drug treatment and mental health care are for-profit businesses, so someone reaching out for help is likely to get grifted even if they have insurance or can pay for the treatment on their own.

Re: Why aren't fentanyl test strips more widespread? (2021)

#56

Post by notRobot »

sonicggg wrote: post #54

Dealers lace it because it can't be easily detected. If they have access to this, then they may lace it with carfentanyl instead, if then you offer carfentanyl test strips, they'll find the next toxic thing to do it. It's just a cat chasing the tail.

Most "lacing" of drugs with fentanyl is accidental contamination - for example when dealers use the same scales to measure different drugs and don't clean them between uses.

Dealers don't commonly go around lacing drugs on purpose - killing your customers is bad for business.

Re: Why aren't fentanyl test strips more widespread? (2021)

#57

Post by Vladimof »

BariumBlue wrote: post #47
Vladimof wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Unlike a viral disease, getting high isn't contagious and doesn't directly and immediately affect those around you. I'm pretty sure that most heavily addicted people would voluntary get such a vaccine... unless there's a major downside

Would they though? This sounds like it could give withdrawal symptoms, and it wouldn't solve the other issues that most highly addicted people face ... It would be great for folks who are in remission and don't want to be tempted back though

well I don't know for sure... just look at this youtube channel for "some" insight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub_nUoTlmV4

Re: Why aren't fentanyl test strips more widespread? (2021)

#58

Post by freedomben »

grapeskin wrote: post #45
rjbwork wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Decrim without legalization or free supply to addicts doesn't do a lot for the poverty side of things. People are still going to spend every cent they can scrape together on their drug. We could supply the entire country's heroin/fent supply for probably 1/1000 what the average street user is paying for their doses, and we could prevent overdoses since there would be a chemically pure version of the drug with a label…

Free supply won’t really be a solution and I can’t imagine why it would. Would making junk food and soda free food end the obesity epidemic? Making it free will only make that area a hub for people seeking to get high. Portland, Seattle, and SF are already hot spots where people actively come because they know they can get high easily. Making it completely free is just an even bigger invitation. I think one of Americ…

I don't think GP was arguing for free drugs (that would indeed be crazy). I think they were making a point about how our current policy is an intentional choice to drive drug users into poverty by making drugs wildly expensive.

Re: Why aren't fentanyl test strips more widespread? (2021)

#59

Post by heavyset_go »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #49
guerrilla wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So when you remove all coercive policies whatsoever (because of abstract academic arguments that equivocate all policies short of giving out free drugs and free money and turning a blind eye to dealers), you manifestly end up nurturing a base of hard-core, long-term addicts. Except that's not at all what happened in Portugal (or in other European programs)...?

> Except that's not at all what happened in Portugal (or in other European programs)...? The Portugal narrative hasn't actually been as positive as initially reported by the Cato papers that were based on the first few years following the policy change. More recent data has shown an uptick of lifetime drug use and an increasing trend of drug deaths that doesn't really support the initially successful picture of their…

The opioid and fentanyl epidemic exploded over this last decade and earlier. If the data you say exists shows this trend, I'd like to that trend compared to the corresponding trends elsewhere in the world.

In the US[1], for example, drug overdose deaths went from about 20k in 2001 to 40k in ~2006, then to 80k in the mid to late 2010's, and now over 100k as of last year[2].

[1] https://nida.nih.gov/drug-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-...

[2] https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/nchs_press_releases/2021/...

Re: Why aren't fentanyl test strips more widespread? (2021)

#60

Post by notRobot »

sonicggg wrote: post #53
rayiner wrote: post #5

> people who use drugs (PWUD) New acronym just dropped. :-/

Sometimes I think people who are writing these dumb articles are living in a parallel world. Nobody in real life would use these expressions, the word they are looking for is junkie or addict. Are they trying to sound fancy or what?

Everyone who uses drugs isn't addicted to them.

And even if they were, it is pointless to use language like that in drug harm reduction material - it will make the users of drugs feel judged or alienated.

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