cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/40917119
https://www.thehandbasket.co/p/trump-fentanyl-weapon-of-mass-destruction-executive-order-draft-scoop
Well this is absolutely frightening in so much that Trump is going to force his way into Canada via military operations by claiming fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction.
Anyone remember the Bush Administration and WMDs they said were there but never were?
Elbows up Canuck’s. The time to prepare is most likely closer than we think.
The hysteria over fentanyl is insane. The fact that cops act like they’re going to die from just barely touching the stuff and this is taken seriously is Idiocracy tier.
The opioid epidemic is because the Sackler family and Purdue made money from convincing doctors that opioids weren’t addictive - as in, the epidemic traces back to a letter to the editor that suggested that opioids weren’t addictive and was taken at face value as encouraged by the pharm industry.
The fentanyl shit is a distraction. People don’t typically seek out fentanyl, they seek out substitutes for opioids that they often became addicted to legally, with the full encouragement of the medical industry.
Beyond that, there’s a serious refusal to take pain seriously in the medical community which leads to people looking to self-medicate. (Like, just this year it’s finally standard practice to offer painkillers during IUD insertion - lots of us were told that it wouldn’t hurt/there weren’t nerves there. Yeah, forcing sharp shit through a cervix hurts.)
The opioid epidemic is horrific and tragic, but it’s not the fault of the cartels - they’re just reaching for their cut.
Purdue Pharma. It’s important, because Purdue Pharma and Purdue University are not connected in any way, and when people from the Midwest hear “Purdue” we usually think of the university.
Very small quantities of fentanyl are used to cut/enhance other drugs, often without the knowledge of the consumer, thus making them more potent/addictive.
Yes - so the problem is not fentanyl itself, but the addiction crisis. It’s being used to cut heroin. Many rural/poor people in the early naughts in shitty, physically demanding jobs developed issues with pain. They received opioids, which were given out like candy, because the thriving secondary market for oxy and perc’s is profitable, and the Sackler’s were making money off it.
Which causes mega problems. States sue, feds investigate. Then, the pendulum swings overnight. Many people who legitimately needed the pain management from opioids were abruptly caught off. Many people who got addicted after going on them after a work injury or bout with illness were also not really given the tools to deal with what they were experiencing - remember, doctors were told they weren’t addictive, so that’s what they were telling their patients too.
Fentanyl is stronger than horse, so it’s great to cut with. Obviously you want to make money, so you can sell less heroin for more money if you add a bit of fentanyl to it (I do not believe that they are sneaking it into weed, that’s the kind of weird copaganda hysteria shit - but certainly party drugs)
It’s a monster that was created by both intentional evil and negligence. The hysteria over fentanyl the drug exists to cover up the true narrative underneath here.
Like, by no means is fentanyl not scary - fentanyl test kits should be available everywhere and from a harm reduction standpoint I don’t think there’s really anything other than “don’t do fentanyl, like even more than don’t do opioids don’t do fucking fentanyl” - but the hysteria over the form of the demon hides its source.
A lot of addicts would be fine with getting fentynal as well as long as they know it’s fentynal. It’s when they don’t know that they OD at higher numbers.
They wouldn’t pay as much for it when they know it’s pure fentanyl. Heroin lasts much longer, so you don’t have to take it as much to avoid withdrawals.
The problem is actually the Drug War where clearly drugs have won.
The whole point of the drug war is to have something to nail political targets anyway. The Nixon aide quote about pot and crack to get people against the war and black folks is kinda old hat by now.
Heroin and cocaine were widespread as fuck before they were made illegal. Think about all those patent medicines. People have never stopped doing drugs, but when you make something almost everyone does illegal you give cops the opportunity on who to enforce it on.
Having the “war” narrative, getting the media to air hysterical stories about crack babies and now fentanyl and demonizing anyone who sells or uses drugs, helps them justify the shiny new Bearcats that they will happily turn on us when we get sick of whatever the fuck Elon/Trump are doing.
This is not to say that opioid use is good. But opioid use is a public health issue and an issue of failing social services and not a moral/crime issue. People with substance use issues use because there are insufficient medical or mental health services, because there is no hope for improving one’s life in some situations, because it helps you tolerate things that you have to do but don’t want to do.