[be_erik]

This rings true with my experiences. The people who I've known to become addicted usually started with something prescribed and then graduated to heroin. When heroin became harder to find, smuggle in, or too expensive, fentanyl happily stepped up to meet demand.

Addicts literally carry around fent testing kits so they can _avoid_ this synthetic opioid.

[flustercan]

>Addicts literally carry around fent testing kits so they can _avoid_ this synthetic opioid.

Its my understanding that heroin and street pharmaceuticals aren't really around anymore. Its ALL fentanyl now and everyone knows it.

[dylan604]

> Addicts literally carry around fent testing kits so they can _avoid_ this synthetic opioid.

Choosy addicts choose...is something I never thought I'd read. I'd suggest they weren't addicting right if they are choosy. When you can find your fix of choice, you just fix with what's available.

If your comment were accurate, fent sales would plummet and the problem would fix itself. This is clearly not the case.

[Out_of_Characte]

>fent sales would plummet

None of what you've described is how any of this works in the real world.

There's an entire world of behaviour from a seller's perspective for every drug and an entire set of behaviour from a user's perspective. They match closely to how 'legal' alcohol production and consumption works. Biggest profits are from the biggest addicts of alcohol and their suppliers are all on the stock exchange for everyone to see. Beer almost never kills anyone, same with the production from large reputable companies. but if you find a great deal of homemade hard liqour make sure you test for ethanol and methanol. Thats simply how addicts die no matter the product they are using.

'some white powder' could literally be anything and everything. Idiots could cut it up wrong and what previously got you high just fine might potentially be a lethal dose right in front of you in the form of a powdery white line with no way to tell. Theres the mostly harmless chemicals used to reduce dose to cut the dealer more profit but could still not be mixed properly so new users wouldn't be able to notice. Then theres the nitazenes and other stuff that most tests only detect 'presence of' but not the dose so you would still have to throw everything out even though it might be mixed and dosed properly. And then theres the less addicted group who doesn't even bother with anything ever and only wants the pure stuff in large single batches in order to test fully and properly. Those people never get screwed over because thats what they pay for.

[snailmailstare]

Are you channeling Bob Saget?

[nradov]

That's true to an extent. But we can also reduce the incidence of opioid addiction by prescribing them only for really severe pain, and in smaller quantities. This is already happening. Back in 2007 an oral surgeon gave me a prescription (which I never filled) after a minor procedure but today that probably wouldn't happen.

[amunozo]

This is the main problem why this problem is much larger in the US