Crime Add Fentanyl to the local drug epidemic mashup

[David]

The St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office Vice/Narcotics Division is issuing a warning regarding the powerful opioid pain reliever fentanyl. The St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office reports a rise in fentanyl-related overdoses and the sale of fentanyl on the streets.

"Fentanyl has been a problem for other jurisdictions nationwide and unfortunately, it has presented itself locally in St. Mary's County. Although there has only been a few cases reported, the Sheriff's Office remains proactive by identifying developing trends in our community, in addition to keeping our citizens aware and up-to-date with the most current information," said Captain Daniel Alioto, Vice/Narcotics Commander.

Fentanyl can be used safely if prescribed, but is a killer on the streets. Fentanyl is a schedule II narcotic controlled substance and is often seen in patch form when prescribed to the terminally ill, such as Hospice care patients. It's an analgesic and an anesthetic, 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine, and 30 to 50 times stronger than heroin, and the most powerful opiate available. Fentanyl is transdermal; it can be easily absorbed through the skin.

This powerful drug is often paired with heroin or benzodiazepines to quicken the onset and enhance the high. Often, a minuscule amount of Fentanyl, in a powder form, is all it takes for an overdose to occur.

Many abusers believe they are purchasing heroin or don't know the heroin or drug they are consuming has been laced with fentanyl. Many forms of Fentanyl are being imported from Mexico and China as well as being developed from synthetic ingredients and sold illegally.

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There was a bulletin that just came regarding a fentanyl-related arrest:

On June 16, Deputy S. Trotter conducted a vehicle stop, at approximately 9:52am on Calvert Beach Road/Solomon's Island Road. The driver, Paul Wert, 41, of Lusby, was arrested for driving on a revoked license. A secondary search conducted at the Detention Center yielded illegal Fentanyl patches attached to the suspect's body. He received an additional charge of CDS: Possession-Not Marijuana (Fentanyl).

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For educational purposes, the Sheriff's Office encourages the community to watch a video being circulated by the Drug Enforcement Agency, warning of fentanyl poisoning.

[video=youtube;X4ZymbIqRWY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4ZymbIqRWY[/video]

 

[Dakota]

I would love to see a huge push that puts pressure on these drug companies. The drug problem has become MASSIVE and at the center of that core, IMO, is the drug companies who have done nothing but push and push their drugs for every ailment constantly.

 

[GURPS]

remove the warning labels .... let Darwin Sort Them OUT

 

[wubbles]

My grandma had this when she was in hospice care and it was extremely powerful, couldn't even function while on it (but gave her peace from her pain). I have no idea how someone could safely use this drug without supervision from a doctor. Way too dangerous, stick to marijuana if you must get high.

 

[PeoplesElbow]

I don't see how much of it is out there, this is a last resort drug to get rid of the pain for dying people. Hospice also used it on my dad right before he passed away, it was the only thing that seemed to do anything for him, he was eating percocet like M&M's up until they put him on the patch.

 

[vraiblonde]

I would love to see a huge push that puts pressure on these drug companies. The drug problem has become MASSIVE and at the center of that core, IMO, is the drug companies who have done nothing but push and push their drugs for every ailment constantly.

People choose to abuse drugs. Nobody makes them do that. If doctors are misprescribing medication, go after them; it's not the drug companies' fault.

What's ridiculous is that I have to sign a waiver and show my driver's license for OTC allergy meds because some tards make meth out of it. Why am I being inconvenienced because someone else is a drug addicted moron? Punish them, not me. I'm not doing anything wrong.

 

[bilbur]

Just an FYI, Fentanyl is also used for chronic pain sufferers. It is worn as a patch and the dose on the patch is measured in micrograms. It is very powerful but with the right dose it can be greatly beneficial to people who have pain 24-7. In the controlled does it doesn't make you high or give you any of the other side affects that people who abuse drugs get. It really just takes the edge off the pain so pain sufferers can go about their daily routines. People that abuse these drugs make me mad because they shine a negative light on those that use them legally for what they were intended.

 

[BernieP]

Just an FYI, Fentanyl is also used for chronic pain sufferers. It is worn as a patch and the dose on the patch is measured in micrograms. It is very powerful but with the right dose it can be greatly beneficial to people who have pain 24-7. In the controlled does it doesn't make you high or give you any of the other side affects that people who abuse drugs get. It really just takes the edge off the pain so pain sufferers can go about their daily routines. People that abuse these drugs make me mad because they shine a negative light on those that use them legally for what they were intended.

The problem isn't the drug any more than killing is the gun or knife's fault. Addiction isn't caused by using the drug. Addiction is a disease, like alcoholism, that you don't know you have until you have it.
I would say that we can predict to some degree who are prime candidates to be either alcoholic or drug addict. It's gong to be the person who exhibits some form of mental illness and who is not getting proper treatment.

The other part is, we now condone recreational drug use. Pot smokers, coke users etc. who use for recreation are consider the in crowd now.

 

[Dakota]

People choose to abuse drugs. Nobody makes them do that. If doctors are misprescribing medication, go after them; it's not the drug companies' fault.

What's ridiculous is that I have to sign a waiver and show my driver's license for OTC allergy meds because some tards make meth out of it. Why am I being inconvenienced because someone else is a drug addicted moron? Punish them, not me. I'm not doing anything wrong.

The U.S. is less than 5 percent of the world's population and we consume 80 percent of the pain pills made in the entire world right here in the U.S.

We have a problem but I completely agree that I shouldn't be punished when I pick up my allergy medication since it is an OTC medication.

However, with prescription meds, the doctors were getting so many kick backs from the drug companies to push their drugs and our drug companies make huge profits keeping people hooked on pain pills. As their tolerance builds, the prescriptions don't work so they were looking for substitutes. The problem needs to be addressed at the root and the root is the doctors handing out prescription after prescription for symptoms without a real diagnoses. Yet marijuana remains illegal on the Federal level.

These sorts of pain medications are meant for those who are terminally ill not for the simple sprains or even broken bones, instead what we have is the U.S. government, Wall Street, Big Pharma, and Big Medicine getting into the legalized heroin business. They've found a way to tap into those fat dope profits without having to deal with Mafiosi or Afghan war lords, and without the stigma of being identified as the Drug Lords that they are.

A great book on this subject is actually "American Pain" by John Temple.

Here are a few random quotes from the book "American Pain" by John Temple:

"the DEA had signed off on hikes in the manufacturing quotas of all popular prescription narcotics. Golbom dug up the numbers. And they were stunning. In 1993, three years before OxyContin came out, the DEA allowed pharmaceutical companies to manufacture 3,520 kilograms of oxycodone. In 2007, the DEA signed off on the production of seventy thousand kilograms of oxycodone. Almost twenty times the amount manufactured just fourteen years earlier. Twenty times. Less than four tons compared to seventy-seven tons.

Between 1996 and 2007, the DEA had nearly quadrupled the production of hydrocodone, allowed manufacturers to produce almost ten times the amount of fentanyl, and hiked the quota of hydromorphone by four and a half times.

Cutting back the quotas wasn’t a radical idea. In fact, the DEA had combated drug waves by reducing quotas before. In the 1970s, when speed pills were popular, the DEA cut the quota of amphetamines by 90 percent, and the illicit market dried up. A decade later, sedative-hypnotics like Quaa- ludes swept across the country, and the DEA cut the quota of the ingredient methaqualone by 74 percent, which effectively erased the problem."

good stuff....

 

[GURPS]

The problem needs to be addressed at the root and the root is the doctors handing out prescription after prescription for symptoms without a real diagnoses.

good stuff....

maybe, but Americans have also been conditioned to demand a 'pill' for every ailment

 

[Dakota]

maybe, but Americans have also been conditioned to demand a 'pill' for every ailment

And all the commercials have been the reason for that. The commercials are overwhelming and on every channel telling us there is a pill for everything. You don't have to suffer... there is a pill for that and some of them are rather cute like the pesky cute little pink bladder with enormous blue eyes dragging a woman to the bathroom every 5 minutes.... "ask your doctor about Myrbetriq."