These War on Drugs PR pieces make me want to tear my hair out. - Fentanyls and other synthetics are already a bigger problem than heroin - Without acetic anhyd

These War on Drugs PR pieces make me want to tear my hair out. - Fentanyls and other synthetics are already a bigger problem than heroin - Without acetic anhydride, heroin is morphine, which is practically the same thing - Without acetic anhydride, morphine can be acetylated in situ with acetic acid (vinegar) and a little bit of technique. - Without acetic acid, morphine can be esterified with a million other chemical species similar to acetate. I hear dibenzoylmorphine is particularly easy "kitchen chemistry" with common ingredients and spectacular results - Acetic anhydride is already a DEA list 2 chemical. It's like what is the end goal of writing these pieces? The endgame is my kid's science teacher gets disappeared for running the "aspirin from salicylic acid" lab, while cartels buy fucking cellulose acetate plants and divert a few tons of acetic anhydride into heroin in between runs of preserved wood and plastic pellets. On the other hand if it leads to drug-subsidized development of the chemical industry in Mexico, maybe that's good for the environment on the Gulf coast and Mississippi Delta