Open Thread - 09-26-23 - The Fentanyl Epidemic

Submitted by JtC on Tue, 09/26/2023 - 8:54am

I received this private message from earthling1 yesterday. He gave me permission to share it with the membership, so I think it's best to just repeat it here, with great sadness.

Wanted to let you know that I can't host the OP for a couple of weeks. I am sorry for the short notice.

My eldest estranged son passed away last night and I need the time to process this.

You can, if you choose, reveal to the community he died of a fentanyl overdose and as tragic as that is, he had a dose of Narcan in a bag next to him, but nobody there to administer it.

Maybe that circumstance may deter someone somewhere from ever becoming involved in the scourge of Fentanyl.

He was 54 years old.

The fentanyl epidemic is ravaging the US, especially among the younger generations. One of my nephews succumbed to it several years ago and just recently, the daughter of a good friend back in Illinois.

Here are some links to help understand the situation:

How is Fentanyl Made?

Fentanyl-Alcohol and Drug Foundation

Fentanyl Seizures at Border Continue to Spike, Making San Diego a National Epicenter for Fentanyl Trafficking; U.S. Attorney’s Office Prioritizes Prosecutions and Prevention Programs

Fentanyl Flow to the United States (PDF)

Where Did Fentanyl Come From?

My heartfelt condolences to earthing1 and his family in their time of loss.

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Submitted by JtC on Tue, 09/26/2023 - 8:57am

I was going to add some other content but I think that it's best left as is.

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Submitted by QMS on Tue, 09/26/2023 - 9:07am
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Somewhere I read the raw materials are mainly manufactured in China.
Then cooked up in Mexico. Hence imported into the US thru the open
border initiative. The end product is 50x more powerful than morphine.

Any truth to this?

Thanks JtC.

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Submitted by JtC on Tue, 09/26/2023 - 9:19am

@QMS
If you read the links, most of it is produced in China and then exported to other countries, especially Mexico, where they process it into other forms, mainly pills.

It's been free flowing across the border for several years. They are putting it in other street drugs as well, including pot.

It doesn't take much at all to kill a person.

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Submitted by QMS on Tue, 09/26/2023 - 9:29am
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@JtC @JtC

Fentanyl constitutes the majority of all drug overdose deaths in the United States since it overtook heroin in 2018.

fentanyl-deaths-have-increased-every-year-sin.width-1200.png
Fentanyl._2_milligrams._A_lethal_dose_in_most_people.jpg

Fentanyl. 2 mg (white powder to the right) is a lethal dose in most people.

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Submitted by JtC on Tue, 09/26/2023 - 9:30am

here in southeast Texas:

Parents terrified after videos of students overdosing in school bathrooms circulate around the internet

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Submitted by Cassiodorus on Tue, 09/26/2023 - 9:44am
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And maybe a hint of humor:

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“One of the things I love about the American people is that we can hold many thoughts at once” - Kamala Harris

Submitted by QMS on Tue, 09/26/2023 - 10:24am
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@Cassiodorus

is what they are lowering.

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Submitted by FutureNow on Tue, 09/26/2023 - 2:10pm

@Cassiodorus
I enjoy a Kamala Word Salad as much as the next person, but this actually reads pretty straightforward to me (claims of veracity aside). If she had said “standard of living” then yeah, that would be chuckle-worthy. What’s the funny part?

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Submitted by QMS on Tue, 09/26/2023 - 2:18pm
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@FutureNow

although it is doubtful she has a clue as to which buttons are being pushed
if she had a functioning brain, it could have included a caveat like:
some of you are better off because of our policies

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Submitted by on the cusp on Tue, 09/26/2023 - 9:47am

I hope your family and friends give you the support you need to absorb this shock.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Submitted by mimi on Tue, 09/26/2023 - 10:14am
mimi's picture

up immediately.

damn if you do, damn if you don't

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https://www.euronews.com/live

Submitted by snoopydawg on Tue, 09/26/2023 - 10:53am
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.

Take your time going through the grief process and just know that you will come out on the other side.

I was prescribed fentanyl for 20 years and it was the only pain drug that actually dealt with my pain. But the insurance company didn’t want to pay for it and so they fought me the whole time and finally got my doctor to quit prescribing it…now life usually sucks every day.

This is HUGE if true. Long thread. From the department of F around and find out. Someone finally crossed the Russia red line once too many times.

https://twitter.com/onlydjole/status/1706392408756240694

Moscow's terrifying revenge: the Russians destroyed the NATO command post under the hotel in Odessa.

The port of Odessa actually no longer exists, and the hotel "Odessa" no longer exists - said Natalia Gumenyuk,

A well-known military observer from Nikolaev "Shegi" announced that "in the former Kempinski Hotel there are NATO consultants on almost all floors. With a lot of electronics. And that radars and air defense systems are deployed around Odesa-Kempinski.

Hopefully those who need to hear it have gotten the message.

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There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?

Submitted by Marie1 on Tue, 09/26/2023 - 5:11pm

@snoopydawg @snoopydawg
but analgesics are so important in healthcare.

"Fentanyl was first synthesized by Paul Janssen in 1959 and was approved for medical use in the United States in 1968."

I was thankful for the EMS fentanyl injection when I broke a femur last year. Apparently I let out a bloodcurdling scream when they lifted me, but I have no recollection of that.

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Submitted by ggersh on Tue, 09/26/2023 - 11:03am
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https://www.theautomaticearth.com/2023/09/debt-rattle-september-26-2023/

I'm of the thought that nope, we in fact didn't win WWII

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I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

Submitted by on the cusp on Tue, 09/26/2023 - 8:32pm

@ggersh area in Thailand. People help them so much.
I played that song, have the music in my shelf, can't remember the composer. Maybe Debussy. I played it for my parents, would have loved to play it for injured and impaired elephants.
One of a great friends did an ex-pat to Thailand. He is a veterinarian, specializes in prosthetics for elephants, teaches at Univ. of Thailand. Haven't heard from him in a while. I can contact his son, get his latest info, see if he will ever come back to Texas for a visit, and if he knows this pianist.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Submitted by ggersh on Wed, 09/27/2023 - 11:04am
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@on the cusp @on the cusp just imagine doing this Wink

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7 users have voted.
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I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

Submitted by on the cusp on Wed, 09/27/2023 - 12:33pm

@ggersh People are really loving on rare occasions, but elephants always are.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Submitted by soryang on Tue, 09/26/2023 - 11:20am
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Sorry to hear of this tragic event.

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語必忠信 行必正直

Submitted by QMS on Tue, 09/26/2023 - 11:38am
QMS's picture

@soryang

this has been around forever. The new, improved synthetic treatments for pain and suffering
like oxycontin and fentanyl have the unfortunate side effect of addiction. At a more deadly
rate than opium or even heroin. The question is why so many people can not deal with
reality in this modern era? Have our minds been corrupted somehow? I'm sure pharma
is working on it.

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Submitted by Tall Bald and Ugly on Tue, 09/26/2023 - 11:31am

no one should have to
go through this

Peace my Brother

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Ya got to be a Spirit, cain't be no Ghost. . .

Explain Bldg #7. . . still waiting. . .

If you’ve ever wondered whether you would have complied in 1930’s Germany,
Now you know. . .
sign at protest march

Submitted by Snode on Tue, 09/26/2023 - 11:31am

No words can match your grief and loss. It's just so sad to hear.

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Submitted by mimi on Tue, 09/26/2023 - 3:29pm
mimi's picture

all of it is just too sad and it is hard to cope even with much minor strokes of fate. I wish you strength and pray that you can find through your grief a way to peace.

Be strong, my friend. Stick to this community. We need and and appreciate your writing more than you think.

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https://www.euronews.com/live

Submitted by QMS on Tue, 09/26/2023 - 3:44pm
QMS's picture

It is on island
very close to the Chinese border in Russian territory.
The station is based in a town named Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.
An amazing mixture of chino/russo music.
Think Enya gone east.
Mostly new-age with attendant buddhist chants occasionally.
Rich in cultural combination.

What are you listening to?

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Submitted by exindy on Tue, 09/26/2023 - 7:51pm

The loss goes so deep. He and you are a victim of the times and endure the lack of societal support.

Be well, please.

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Submitted by dystopian on Tue, 09/26/2023 - 10:26pm
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So sad to hear. So sorry E1. Be well brother!

I see it getting worse soon... With the Taliban banning opium Afghan production, I suspect heroin and morphine shortages are on the horizon and unless the see-eye-eh gets back in the biz, more people will get more desperate to do other things, and now with this shit, it will not end well. In the old days all we had to worry about was paraquat. P.S. There was a traffic helicopter dude in LA in 70's named Paraquat Kelly.

Take your time and take care E1!

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We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein

Submitted by snoopydawg on Wed, 09/27/2023 - 12:08am
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@dystopian

My doctor warned me about it 3 months ago, but so far I haven’t had any problems. I asked if others were last month and got an affirmative.

Why do drug dealers go to prison while people like the Sacklers, big pharma and the people who approved OxyContin are still walking free? All 3 of them were responsible for the OxyContin damage that racked the country and yet….. nada!

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There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?

Submitted by janis b on Wed, 09/27/2023 - 12:47am
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I hope you and all your earthlings can find solace in time and remembrance.

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Submitted by studentofearth on Wed, 09/27/2023 - 1:14am
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My thoughts and well wishes are sent your way. Providing support to your grieving family members, while dealing with your own is a challenging life task. Take care of yourself

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Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

Submitted by Sima on Wed, 09/27/2023 - 5:14am
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So sorry, earthling1. So very sorry. My estranged brother was an addict for many, many years. I expected to hear this kind of thing at every minor phone call, every contact - no matter how distant - with my brother. Somehow, my brother clawed himself out of addiction and alcoholism, with a lot of help and with being locked in a treatment facility for about half a year. It was just a lucky roll of the dice for my brother. I wish the same roll could have happened for your son.

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If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so