[ant_li0n]

Most of these kids are not addicts, they bought what they thought was a Xanax from some dude on Snapchat, and it turned out to be fentanyl.

I somehow feel that maybe the pharmaceutical marketing machine, which has successfully turned drugs into name brands that are recognized by kids, might have something to do with the problem. But what do I know?

[nradov]

Correct. Recreational drug users are being poisoned by counterfeit prescription drugs manufactured by Mexican drug cartels that contain fatal doses of fentanyl.

https://peterattiamd.com/anthonyhipolito/

[galaxyLogic]

That is a bit like during Prohibition there was a lot of illegal alcohol much of which was bad quality containing methanol instead of ethanol, making people blind or dead

https://www.pastemagazine.com/drink/alcohol-history/prohibit...

"Suffice to say, the public didn’t take too kindly to that kind of “it’s their own damn fault they’re dead” reasoning, and it fanned the flames of the growing movement to repeal Prohibition. "

[TedDoesntTalk]

Are you suggesting to legalize fentanyl so it can be purchased over the counter like aspirin?

[nicoburns]

I think the idea would be more like legalise and/or decriminalising Xanax or MDMA or whatever it is that recreational users actually want to take (the number of people who intentionally consume opiates is dramatically lower), and to make a reliably uncontaminated supply of these substances available. This could be over the counter (presumably with age restrictions), or it could look more like no questions asked drug testing services.

[nradov]

Xanax (alprazolam) is already legal with a prescription. It is frequently prescribed for insomnia and other sleep disorders. But patients often sell some of their pills on the black market, and now drug cartels are manufacturing counterfeit Xanax pills which replace the active ingredient with fentanyl. Xanax itself has some pretty severe side effects so there would be a lot of resistance to making it available OTC.

[galaxyLogic]

Yes there should be good drugs more easily available than bad drugs. Rational people understand they don't want to get their body into a condition where they get into terrible pain if they don't get their next injection soon. Where they have to commit crimes to finance their addiction.

Rational people don't want to take street-drugs which they know might kill them because of bad quality. They are seeing a lot of people dying around them so they know.

This is conceptually not that different from methanol-laced alcohol being available during prohibition. Of course nobody wants to take methanol if they can take ethanol instead. Ethanol is very bad as well. But harm reduction should be the thing that guides our policy.

[pcthrowaway]

Don't be silly.

You should probably restrict it to people over the age of 18 like cigarettes

[achenet]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systembolaget

if the market is a government monopoly, you'll likely have fewer problems than if t's run by violent criminals.

[Amezarak]

Benzos like Xanax are extremely addictive and popular party drugs.