[–] LesserEntropyMachine 0 points 5 points 5 points (+5|-0) ago
A part of it is that China manufactures a lot of drugs and analog drugs for sale on the dark web. Some of these are versions of other drugs (analogs of common drugs like LSD that skirt international law). Fentanyl is a very dangerous drug because it takes so very little to overdose or kill someone. In terms of op sec for the purchase of illicit drugs, having something that can land (make it to the destination) is key. So having to buy 1g of fentanyl vs hundreds of grams of say, heroin, it is much easier to smuggle. Many users do not realize that they have taken fent vs another drug until it's too late, so shady dealers are using it to cut their more expensive products. It's a flighty powder, which means even weighing it out or handling it can be risky as hell and can lead to accidental death. But it is cheap, and China doesn't care who buys it or how it's going to be used. So it's come full force in to America as the war on opiates is happening. It's a replacement that is dirt cheap, somewhat mirrors some of the effects of opiates, and can be easily shipped. Plus, as a weapon of mass injury, it has the potential to kill millions in the case of a terror attack. That is the long explanation of why it has become so big so quickly and why it is on the radar of officials. Source: I've worked for online drug harm reduction where online purchases of these drugs are common and users come in to find out what to do or how to be safe.
[–] kingdomhearts123 0 points 4 points 4 points (+4|-0) ago
Afghan dope flooded Asia and pushed down price.. adding fentanyl to the mix to capture market share is like adding marshmallows in kids breakfast cereals
Substance abuse suicides have been on the rise for a long time. I've heard sources refer to them as "deaths of dispair". It's mainly affecting white blue collar men.
Its definitely being pushed, the manufacturer of oxy got busted for trying to get whites hooked on prescription heroin.
[–] Ghetto_Shitlord 0 points 3 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago (edited ago)
You don't know addicts. If something is so "good" it's killing people, they'll line up to use it.
SHAPRES, lol, I remember passing the hat to bail a friend out from there!
[–] LesbianPorkChop 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
I'm a foster parent dead smack in ground zero for the opioid epidemic. Believe it or not, that means you have to become an expert on everything about these drugs, especially how to help infants detox. I can say that a lot of the comments here are reasonably accurate.
But here's the full picture...
China is almost 100% run by the Triads now. For those of you who don't know who they are, just think of them as the Yakuza of China. Except if you compare the two the Yakuza look like a bunch of 11 year old schoolgirls in Hello Kitty panties. The Triads do not tolerate resistance or avoidance in any way and the people who merely irritate them are sliced open, have their entrails pulled out and piled up in their arms, and then they are dumped on the street. Being a government official does not intimidate them in any way. So they have basically bought, bullied, and blackmailed the entire system over there.
They run the factories that make the fentanyl and other upcoming synthetic opioids. They have an agreement with the Mexican Cartels to distribute their products in the Americas. The Cartels basically own several southwest cities there, especially the docks. The drugs come in just like any other product and are put in armored semis with military grade escorts for shipping to the north.
Once the drugs hit somewhere north of Mexico city they are unboxed and doses are put into tiny baggies. After this they are smuggled into the US and Canada. About 90% of that smuggling is literally guys walking it over the border in massive backpacks. Each pack can hold as many as 10,000 doses. Then the drugs are distributed.
Fentanyl was a godsend to the cartels because it took so little to make a dose equivalent to real heroin. A lot of the "heroin" sold here is just a tiny amount of fentanyl in a cutting agent that the dealer adds.
The horrible thing is that the Chinese are formulating even more powerful opioid analogs as we speak. They tested one in my area last year and it killed everyone who tried it. It was so powerful that the scientists who examined it equated it to something you could use to knock an elephant out for several days. One granule is enough to generate a high like a full dose of fentanyl.
[–] Tallest_Skil 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Hopefully they all die from it.
[–] TheBuddha 0 points 8 points 8 points (+8|-0) ago
The crackdown on prescription opiates and the potency vs. weight when compared to heroin.
Basically, the drug war is why you're seeing the fentanyl.