4 ms·

> become a victim of fentanyl. Fentanyl poisoning is >99.9% a result of the war on drugs. If you could purchase any drug OTC at a fair price, virtually no one

> become a victim of fentanyl. Fentanyl poisoning is >99.9% a result of the war on drugs. If you could purchase any drug OTC at a fair price, virtually no one would be risking their life on dodgy street drugs.

trafficante 4y ago
> If you could purchase any drug OTC at a fair price, virtually no one would be risking their life on dodgy street drugs. I had a big post here comparing the black market for marijuana here in Oregon (spoiler: it’s larger than ever, half the cost of retail, and now largely run by cartels) but ultimately the larger issue society seems blind to is that addicts don’t think rationally about their addictions. So yes, opioid addicts absolutely will risk their lives to get a hit that costs half as much.
- riversflow 4y ago
  Right, that's why I said a "fair market price", not "heavily regulated and taxed to pay for facilities for junkies and pay for drug education". My understanding is that opiates can be produced dirt cheap. Also I have absolutely no clue, and I doubt there is really even data on it, but there are a lot of people who are dying from fentanyl who aren't opiate addicts at all. One person I knew who died last year couldn't afford healthcare, bought their anxiety meds online, and died in their room from fentanyl. Another person I knew died from ectasy, and having talked around it's a common story.
up2isomorphism 4y ago
> virtually no one would risking their life on dodgy street drugs. Only when you are sane. Did you know addicts are willing to walk on street @20F to get some money for drug instead of going shelters? This is quite common and not hard to observe once you are willing to explore a bit beyond your regular happy life.
- riversflow 4y ago
  Yes. I actually knew and frequently talked with many of the homeless people who lived near me when I lived in downtown SF. The thing is that opiates are naturally cheap, and most of the current cost comes from heavy regulation. If an addict can be high all day for a quarter the cost of a meal, say $1, and can purchase said from a safe, reputable drug store in their chosen location, rather than trekking across town to a shady area to buy illegal drugs from a outlaw dealer, they’ll do that. If only because they can spend more time begging and less time walking. You have a very skewed view of addicts if you think they are that deranged. A good illustration of that is clean needle programs that provide orange safety tips for used needles. If these addicts were so completely deranged, those tips would end up in the trash not on the ends of needles in the streets.
Aeolun 4y ago
> If you could purchase any drug OTC at a fair price, virtually no one would be risking their life on dodgy street drugs. I feel like this rings the same as ‘unrestricted gun availability is good for people’.

trafficante 4y ago

> If you could purchase any drug OTC at a fair price, virtually no one would be risking their life on dodgy street drugs. I had a big post here comparing the black market for marijuana here in Oregon (spoiler: it’s larger than ever, half the cost of retail, and now largely run by cartels) but ultimately the larger issue society seems blind to is that addicts don’t think rationally about their addictions. So yes, opioid addicts absolutely will risk their lives to get a hit that costs half as much.

riversflow 4y ago
Right, that's why I said a "fair market price", not "heavily regulated and taxed to pay for facilities for junkies and pay for drug education". My understanding is that opiates can be produced dirt cheap. Also I have absolutely no clue, and I doubt there is really even data on it, but there are a lot of people who are dying from fentanyl who aren't opiate addicts at all. One person I knew who died last year couldn't afford healthcare, bought their anxiety meds online, and died in their room from fentanyl. Another person I knew died from ectasy, and having talked around it's a common story.

up2isomorphism 4y ago

> virtually no one would risking their life on dodgy street drugs. Only when you are sane. Did you know addicts are willing to walk on street @20F to get some money for drug instead of going shelters? This is quite common and not hard to observe once you are willing to explore a bit beyond your regular happy life.

riversflow 4y ago
Yes. I actually knew and frequently talked with many of the homeless people who lived near me when I lived in downtown SF. The thing is that opiates are naturally cheap, and most of the current cost comes from heavy regulation. If an addict can be high all day for a quarter the cost of a meal, say $1, and can purchase said from a safe, reputable drug store in their chosen location, rather than trekking across town to a shady area to buy illegal drugs from a outlaw dealer, they’ll do that. If only because they can spend more time begging and less time walking. You have a very skewed view of addicts if you think they are that deranged. A good illustration of that is clean needle programs that provide orange safety tips for used needles. If these addicts were so completely deranged, those tips would end up in the trash not on the ends of needles in the streets.

Aeolun 4y ago

> If you could purchase any drug OTC at a fair price, virtually no one would be risking their life on dodgy street drugs. I feel like this rings the same as ‘unrestricted gun availability is good for people’.