[cma]

My brother died from fentanyl in 2014. It is so strong that it is harder to dose correctly and to manufacture into even batches. Things sold as something else are getting laced with it. Even when people do know what they are getting, small uneveness in the mixing of a large batch can cause multiple deaths.

It isn't just due to the normal generic tolerance increases over time, and it isn't just about all opiods being complete substitutes for one another; they aren't. Half-lifes matter, some research shows some affect repiratory pathways faster than others relative to their other effects, etc.

My brother would have likely died from heroin even if fentanyl didn't exist, but there is something more to the wave of fentanyl overdoses than you are making it sound.

I don't necessarily agree with the parent post about legalization, legal sources boomed in the 90s through doctors and brought about a lot of the current epidemic. Would complete legalization be a net positive? I don't know. It would have upsides and downsides.