4 ms·

> If adults could get their drugs legally, it would almost entirely eliminate demand for illegal fentanyl and thus prevent it from making it into the hands of k

> If adults could get their drugs legally, it would almost entirely eliminate demand for illegal fentanyl and thus prevent it from making it into the hands of kids There's already a wide variety of substances kids can legally get their hands on to get high with. Some are available for purchase at your local gas station, and are much cheaper than a Percocet. The drugs are being sold TO kids in this county, it's not a case of kids getting it from their parents. There are dealers in the schools selling the fentanyl and advertising it as other opiates. These dealers aren't getting it from their parents either, they're getting it from suppliers who are bringing it in from Mexico. > Because it's manufactured with essentially no QC, fentanyl dosage varies hugely from pill to pill, it's being sold as other drugs or adulterated into other drugs The fentanyl isn't being manufactured in the US and thus is not subject to any US drug regulation or quality control. It wouldn't eliminate the class of problems you're suggesting either as it's being purposefully pumped into the US. Drug users are always looking for the next best high - they don't stop because something is legal. It's eventually going to stop working for them anyway because, tolerance.

rippercushions 4y ago
You're muddling up things. Yes, gas stations sell sketchy 'legal highs', but those are an entirely separate category of drugs from synthetic opiates like fentanyl. Dealers in schools selling hard drugs exist because the cartels have the economies of scale to produce and smuggle opiates in huge quantities, which their adult customers consume in huge quantities and pay (in aggregate) huge amounts for. If that adult demand goes away because they can get their hard drugs legally and safely elsewhere (the Swiss model), it is no longer profitable to peddle fentanyl in junior high bathrooms in exchange for a teen's lunch money.
- throwmeouthn 4y ago
  > Yes, gas stations sell sketchy 'legal highs', but those are an entirely separate category of drugs from synthetic opiates like fentanyl I never claimed they weren't. My point was that if it was just about kids wanting to get high, they could easily find one elsewhere, for cheaper and most likely it would be easier to obtain. > Dealers in schools selling hard drugs exist because the cartels have the economies of scale to produce and smuggle opiates in huge quantities, which their adult customers consume in huge quantities and pay (in aggregate) huge amounts for I don't disagree with this point. > If that adult demand goes away because they can get their hard drugs legally and safely elsewhere (the Swiss model), it is no longer profitable to peddle fentanyl in junior high bathrooms in exchange for a teen's lunch money I'm pretty sure people living in Portugal / Switzerland aren't legally buying synthetic opioids like fentanyl, and even if they are - the investment into social programs like substance abuse treatment, education and mental health, dwarfs whatever the US invests in these areas. Decriminalizing / legalizing all drugs or the manufacture and distribution of said drugs, is not going to solve the opioid epidemic in the US. Drug addiction and death are profitable and there is much incentive for policy makers to preserve the status quo. The lack of social programs and infrastructure is arguably a larger hurdle we'd need to overcome before legalization would bear any fruits. Not every country is a Switzerland or Portugal and you can't just lift and shift and guarantee success. Even the countries that have implemented these types of policies have experienced increases in opioid use: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanepe/article/PIIS2666-7762(22)00131-4/fulltext https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanepe/article/PIIS2666-7...
tayo42 4y ago
gas station? whip its and morning glory seeds and nutmeg? nothing getting sold in gas station is like an oxy. come on...
- throwmeouthn 4y ago
  [dead]
- rossover 4y ago
  https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2023/03/24/growing-danger-of-gas-station-heroin-kentucky-latest-state-to-ban-tianeptine-opioid-like-drug-sold-in-groceries/amp/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2023/03/24/growing-d...

rippercushions 4y ago

You're muddling up things. Yes, gas stations sell sketchy 'legal highs', but those are an entirely separate category of drugs from synthetic opiates like fentanyl. Dealers in schools selling hard drugs exist because the cartels have the economies of scale to produce and smuggle opiates in huge quantities, which their adult customers consume in huge quantities and pay (in aggregate) huge amounts for. If that adult demand goes away because they can get their hard drugs legally and safely elsewhere (the Swiss model), it is no longer profitable to peddle fentanyl in junior high bathrooms in exchange for a teen's lunch money.

throwmeouthn 4y ago
> Yes, gas stations sell sketchy 'legal highs', but those are an entirely separate category of drugs from synthetic opiates like fentanyl I never claimed they weren't. My point was that if it was just about kids wanting to get high, they could easily find one elsewhere, for cheaper and most likely it would be easier to obtain. > Dealers in schools selling hard drugs exist because the cartels have the economies of scale to produce and smuggle opiates in huge quantities, which their adult customers consume in huge quantities and pay (in aggregate) huge amounts for I don't disagree with this point. > If that adult demand goes away because they can get their hard drugs legally and safely elsewhere (the Swiss model), it is no longer profitable to peddle fentanyl in junior high bathrooms in exchange for a teen's lunch money I'm pretty sure people living in Portugal / Switzerland aren't legally buying synthetic opioids like fentanyl, and even if they are - the investment into social programs like substance abuse treatment, education and mental health, dwarfs whatever the US invests in these areas. Decriminalizing / legalizing all drugs or the manufacture and distribution of said drugs, is not going to solve the opioid epidemic in the US. Drug addiction and death are profitable and there is much incentive for policy makers to preserve the status quo. The lack of social programs and infrastructure is arguably a larger hurdle we'd need to overcome before legalization would bear any fruits. Not every country is a Switzerland or Portugal and you can't just lift and shift and guarantee success. Even the countries that have implemented these types of policies have experienced increases in opioid use: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanepe/article/PIIS2666-7762(22)00131-4/fulltext https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanepe/article/PIIS2666-7...

tayo42 4y ago

gas station? whip its and morning glory seeds and nutmeg? nothing getting sold in gas station is like an oxy. come on...

throwmeouthn 4y ago
[dead]
rossover 4y ago
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2023/03/24/growing-danger-of-gas-station-heroin-kentucky-latest-state-to-ban-tianeptine-opioid-like-drug-sold-in-groceries/amp/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2023/03/24/growing-d...