[twaybtclong]

Wonder how he got that idea:

> “Chiva,” his uncle said. Goat, the Mexican slang term for black tar heroin. “This is how we make our money.” Cora Indian campesinos grew the poppies in the mountains above Xalisco. They harvested the opium goo from the flowers and sold it to cookers whom Enrique’s uncles knew. A newly cooked kilo of vinegary, sticky chiva would head north in a boom box or a backpack within a couple days, virtually uncut, and often hit L.A. streets only a week after the goo was drawn from the poppy. As Enrique’s uncle spoke, he rolled little pieces of the gunk into balls the size of BBs.

"Dreamland" https://www.amazon.com/Dreamland-True-Americas-Opiate-Epidem...

[blueline]

so mexican people are bad because some guy wrote a book about a town where some mexican people sell drugs?

very scientific, thank you Hacker News

[twaybtclong]

They setup an entire heroin network of Domino's like franchises spanning the US. Starting in LA, ultimately spreading all over the country by the early 2000s.

The heroin resurgence came on the back of enterprising Mexicans who took advantage of loose sentencing of small amounts and rampant Oxy addicts looking for alternatives.

> In two years, from 1995 to 1997, Boise’s minor market had a half-dozen crews selling heroin like pizza. But that wasn’t all. From the wiretaps, Ruplinger heard Polla call Phoenix, Ontario, El Monte, Salt Lake, Portland, Billings, Las Vegas, Honolulu. If Boise had a half dozen, how many crews must Denver have? What about Portland? Las Vegas? The heroin cells were like ants in a garden: You didn’t see them unless you got close enough and knew what to look for. Then, even when you stamped them out, more came to take their place.

[lotsofpulp]

> The heroin resurgence came on the back of enterprising Mexicans who took advantage of loose sentencing of small amounts and rampant Oxy addicts looking for alternatives.

Did anything bad ever come on the backs of enterprising Americans?

Is there any purpose of your comment other than to indict an entire country of people for the actions of a few?

[mc32]

Did Americans ever conduct a gun running operation into Mexico, is that a bad thing?

Yeah it’s bad and we should punish them.

[twaybtclong]

That wasn't the argument. My mom died, I know others that died and I know the history behind it. It used to be truth seeking was important. There is truth to what Trump was saying.

At the time he made that statement the opiate epidemic was still in full swing. You can take the media narrative that it was racism, but 70k dead a year for the last decade requires a more nuanced look.

[lotsofpulp]

> It used to be truth seeking was important. There is truth to what Trump was saying.

No, there is no truth. I consider all the hardworking people, including Mexicans, who harvest my fruits and vegetables, do construction and landscaping labor, work in meat processing plants, and any other task “to be the best”.

How one can indict Mexico for the opiate problem rather than the pharmaceutical companies and doctors that rubber stamped it all and looked the other way is beyond me.

[twaybtclong]

> How one can indict Mexico for the opiate problem

I never said this and neither did Trump. You should restate it to make sure you understand the real argument.

If you notice I mentioned Oxy. Everyone shares some of the blame.

[dublinben]

Did you miss the entire parallel plot in that book about Purdue Pharma lying to pill mill doctors to get pain patients hooked on their "nonaddictive" opioid product? The Sackler family created the demand that those "enterprising" Mexicans fulfilled.

[twaybtclong]

Of course not. I think the Sackler family should be drawn and quartered. Notice I mentioned Oxy addicts.