Fentanyl crisis: Nine people overdosed and died in Vancouver last night alone. - Polidicks

[img]https://i.cbc.ca/1.3753949.1473368900!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_620/front-line-14.jpg[/img] [quote]Vancouver's police chief says the fentanyl crisis hit a brutal low point Thursday with the overdose deaths of as many as nine people in a single night. Flanked by Mayor Gregor Robertson and other emergency officials at a Friday news conference, Chief Adam Palmer said serious help is needed to deal with a problem that is claiming lives at an alarming rate. "Can you imagine nine people dying from any other cause in one day in our city," Palmer said. "We need a longer-term strategy to help people in crisis." Citing statistics from his officers that suggest as many as 35 people died of fentanyl overdoses in November alone, Palmer said addicts need "treatment on demand."[/quote] [quote]Palmer said the rising number of overdose deaths is unprecedented and that Vancouver could see close to 200 deaths by the end of the year. In comparison, the city had 11 homicides and 15 motor vehicle deaths in 2015.[/quote] [quote]Between January to October 2016, 622 people in British Columbia died of overdoses. November's figures will be made public on Monday. [/quote] [url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/fentanyl-crisis-up-to-9-drug-overdose-deaths-in-vancouver-last-night-1.3900437]**SOURCE**[/url] It's insane. I have never seen a drug crisis this bad in the DTES. Not all of this is being cooked locally though. Over the last few weeks there's been a huge amount of it being smuggled in from China. There was a guy in Victoria earlier in the week who got busted importing toys and electronics packed full of fentanyl and with it showing up in more and more concentrated forms it's getting almost impossible to cut other drugs with it and not make it lethal so I've been hearing it's becoming a problem with the coke, hash and even the weed dealers. It's everywhere.

Yeah and now they're going to slap us with another property tax to fix this problem. Except it won't, and it's fucking irresponsible of them to further tax people who are barely making ends meet as it is. As a former addict myself, and having spoken with other former addicts in the last 4-5 months of this problem existing, the conclusion most of us reached is that there is very little to do to help these people as they want to be in that position. Forcing them out of it doesn't generally work, and everyone I know of who's left the problem in their past did so because they wanted to. Not because a government forced them to.

Here in the US, it's pretty much the same. I've worked in my family's pharmacy my whole life and only recently has it become a problem. The DEA visited us trying to find evidence to use against reckless doctors nearby. We no longer fill new prescriptions for it and have turned away all but a handful of our current ones on Fentanyl. The rise of Suboxone hasn't helped the situation. While controlled substances and "cabinet bottles" (Class III and II drugs in a locked cabinet) are a huge money maker for doctors and pharmacies, it's not worth the risk. My father had to purchase a gun for the store after a local string of fatal armed robberies where the perps were after the narcotics. We still have run-ins occasionally with pain pill addicts who won't take no for an answer. Unfortunately, the way we in the industry see it, the pain pill problem is actually fueling worse things like the heroin epidemic. Horse is a lot cheaper than pills, and it gets you higher. But take the heroin away and the pill problem gets worse. Take the pills away, the heroin problem gets worse.

[QUOTE=pentium;51541262] and with it showing up in more and more concentrated forms it's getting almost impossible to cut other drugs with it and not make it lethal so I've been hearing it's becoming a problem with the coke, hash and even the [B]weed [/B]dealers. It's everywhere.[/QUOTE] What the fuck are they adding fentanyl to weed for? That's actually terrifying. Weeds commonly considered a 'safe' drug. [editline]16th December 2016[/editline] [QUOTE=HumanAbyss;51541343]As a former addict myself, and having spoken with other former addicts in the last 4-5 months of this problem existing, the conclusion most of us reached is that there is very little to do to help these people as they want to be in that position. Forcing them out of it doesn't generally work, and everyone I know of who's left the problem in their past did so because they wanted to. Not because a government forced them to.[/QUOTE] This is the problem. You can't help someone who won't help himself. All you can do is try and cushion the bottom of the barrel they slam into so that they don't die in the process.

Man, I feel bad for those paramedics at the scene, having to deal with that in day in and day out.

[QUOTE=Maksie99;51541500]Man, I feel bad for those paramedics at the scene, having to deal with that in day in and day out.[/QUOTE] Fire Dept. deals with overdoses way more often than paramedics. Hell the guy in the image has "FIRE RESCUE" on his shirt. [editline]16th December 2016[/editline] I always give peace signs and wave to firefighters whenever I see them, they need more nice things to see on a daily basis.

I used to read articles like these here in the states and hope that maybe our government was doing more to stop the heroin epidemic but it's always just the DEA using their broken methodology to "fix" things. I wish there were local and state run rehab centers that took patients in for free. Many of these people have had their lives ruined by the drug, and are the last people to have money to pay for rehabilitation. It hurts even more because my family and I found my older sister dead in her bedroom after overdosing on heroin 3 days ago. We supported her and did everything in our power to help. Our insurance didn't even want to cover her rehab and left us to fend for ourselves. We exhausted every option but there's simply barely any help out there for people who are addicted to drugs unless you have money. She did well some months and bad others but it finally caught up to her in the end. There needs to be something done about this before it takes more people's lives.

[QUOTE=Zephyrs;51541482]What the fuck are they adding fentanyl to weed for? That's actually terrifying. Weeds commonly considered a 'safe' drug.[/QUOTE] retard drug dealer logic "fentanyl is pretty strong, if i add a bit of this shit to my weed, people will buy my weed more!"

[QUOTE=ROFLBURGER;51541718]retard drug dealer logic "fentanyl is pretty strong, if i add a bit of this shit to my weed, people will buy my weed more!"[/QUOTE] This a myth, why the fuck would a dealer waste valuble fent on spiking some dude's weed? Thats stupid reagan tier drug logic. I was actually in Vancouver recently and the heroin problem was super apparent. Kinda of terrifying to see. I actually saw a dead dude on the street who had died from an overdose. Its worse because all the addicts who sleep outside move to vancouver so they can survive the winters.

[QUOTE=The Aussie;51541773]This a myth, why the fuck would a dealer waste valuble fent on spiking some dude's weed? Thats stupid reagan tier drug logic. I was actually in Vancouver recently and the heroin problem was super apparent. Kinda of terrifying to see. I actually saw a dead dude on the street who had died from an overdose. Its worse because all the addicts who sleep outside move to vancouver so they can survive the winters.[/QUOTE] do you have an idea on why it's reported that there is fentanyl in weed?

[QUOTE=ROFLBURGER;51541797]do you have an idea on why it's reported that there is fentanyl in weed?[/QUOTE] I've seen weed cut with many things.

I'm surprised dealers can cook up enough fentanyl to sell. I hear the synthesis is a real pain to perform with many steps involved. What's the chance there's just one talented chemist doing it Breaking Bad style and cornering the market? There's little chance of anyone without a master in organic chem doing it and given how powerful an opioid it is you don't need to make huge amounts of it (kind of like LSD in that way).

[QUOTE=pentium;51541800]I've seen weed cut with many things.[/QUOTE] I've seen bags sandbagged or what not but I don't know of anyone who's putting fentanyl on their weed. They'd have trouble lasting with their customer base. Stoners talk to each other, and if someone even had a hint that their dealer was lacing their weed with fentanyl, or could be doing that in the future, that guys not going to get repeat buyers from the people who here about that. If you started doing this you'd basically be going from selling weed, to selling heroin and opiods because no ones going to buy your weed that way

That's actually really scary, at least on a personal level. My dad's had cluster headaches for over a decade and for a while he was taking Fentanyl lollipops to curb the pain. Scary shit, I was told that even licking it could kill me because of just how strong it was due to his built up resistance. I dunno how much of it was to scare me into not doing shit with them, but I stayed the fuck away from them because of it. Glad that he had a detox a few years back to get him off all the really nasty shit he was on. Now he can combat them mostly with OTC painkillers and they've got him on heart medications to keep the headaches under control. He's going to the ER/urgent care less often overall, too.

[QUOTE=ROFLBURGER;51541797]do you have an idea on why it's reported that there is fentanyl in weed?[/QUOTE] I have no clue, maybe people are reporting it without knowing?

Thank god for the war on drugs, these doctors should be commended for converting people from heroin to a nice safe legal drug /s.

[QUOTE=download;51541833]I'm surprised dealers can cook up enough fentanyl to sell. I hear the synthesis is a real pain to perform with many steps involved. What's the chance there's just one talented chemist doing it Breaking Bad style and cornering the market? There's little chance of anyone without a master in organic chem doing it and given how powerful an opioid it is you don't need to make huge amounts of it (kind of like LSD in that way).[/QUOTE] It's a simple 3 step synthesis although I don't know how easy the precursors are to get.

Just legalize drugs then. People will take the drugs one way or another anyway, so why not at least give them the chance to do it in a safe environment with clean substances?

We should certainly decriminalise the use of drugs and realise that non-violent people taking drugs are victims, not criminals (and a certain percentage of the violent ones are still just victims as well). Putting a drug addict in prison does nothing to help them and will make their situation worse. Legalisation... yeah, definitely for weed and some other drugs. I'd be extremely uncomfortable with say, meth being legal however. I'm not sure if that would help or not.

[QUOTE=Headhumpy;51542502]It's a simple 3 step synthesis although I don't know how easy the precursors are to get.[/QUOTE] What are the precursors for that synthesis route?

The benefits to legalization would be that users can get their fix without the drug being contaminated, as well as doctors and psychologists being aware of how much they're using and being able to intervene if necessary I figure if we legalize and sell all drugs then the stronger stuff should probably have routine check-ups attached to them

Fentanyl problem has been up in Estonia for quite a while now and media has barely been reporting it. I hope when some western countries get better ways to combat it then we can at least copy that, otherwise the government has been turning a blind eye at that.

[QUOTE=Jojje;51542688]The benefits to legalization would be that users can get their fix without the drug being contaminated, as well as doctors and psychologists being aware of how much they're using and being able to intervene if necessary I figure if we legalize and sell all drugs then the stronger stuff should probably have routine check-ups attached to them[/QUOTE] I'm pretty sure people getting mystery doses from dealers is what kills most addicts. Having the drugs made to exacting standards would cut that down tremendously.

[QUOTE=download;51542682]What are the precursors for that synthesis route?[/QUOTE] 4-Piperidone, 2-bromoethylbenzene, aniline, propionyl chloride. Most likely to get you flagged is probably 4-piperidone, and it's also the most expensive.

[QUOTE=Headhumpy;51542696]4-Piperidone, 2-bromoethylbenzene, aniline, propionyl chloride. Most likely to get you flagged is probably 4-piperidone, and it's also the most expensive.[/QUOTE] Looking it up 4-Piperidone is a controlled chemical in the US. You'd need to synthesis that as well, adding more steps. You would probably made it from pyridine which Nile Red had a video on.

[QUOTE=download;51542725]Looking it up 4-Piperidone is a controlled chemical in the US. You'd need to synthesis that as well, adding more steps. You would probably made it from pyridine which Nile Red had a video on.[/QUOTE] It's not made from pyridine. It's made from other starting materials which, although I haven't looked up, are probably not controlled. However, those steps do look like a pain to carry out. On the other hand, I can think of another route that avoids the use of 4-piperidone that is based on the synthesis of 4-piperidone.

[QUOTE=BlackMageMari;51542681]We should certainly decriminalise the use of drugs and realise that non-violent people taking drugs are victims, not criminals (and a certain percentage of the violent ones are still just victims as well). Putting a drug addict in prison does nothing to help them and will make their situation worse. Legalisation... yeah, definitely for weed and some other drugs. I'd be extremely uncomfortable with say, meth being legal however. I'm not sure if that would help or not.[/QUOTE] The way I look at it, the justice system should take into account the actual harm a crime causes, rather than throwing people into prison based on abstract sentencing requirements. For example, if all you're doing is lighting up a joint every Friday and laughing your ass off at southpark, you're good to go. You're not hurting anyone. If you're using heroin, you're hurting yourself (and, indirectly, your family if it's bad enough), but not necessarily the general public. Provide access to addiction counselling and treatment, but don't force it. All forcing it will do is make it even less likely for you to get help. If you're breaking into houses or robbing passerby at gunpoint to support your habit, yeah. You've got a problem, and it's affecting innocent people. We're going to separate you from the public until you get yourself straightened out. Of course, the US prison system would also need to undergo a complete 180 in structure and philosophy of operation for that last option to be viable, but that's a subject that could cover an entire series of threads.

[QUOTE=DrDevil;51542617]Just legalize drugs then. People will take the drugs one way or another anyway, so why not at least give them the chance to do it in a safe environment with clean substances?[/QUOTE] There's a clean injection site in the area, could be more but last time I checked it was the only one in North America (this was probably like 5 years ago). They provide clean needles and other, not the drugs. Ofc the conservative party says it encourages drug use, and the sites shouldn't allowed. Instead, they rather focus on drug treatment (Ironically, the place also functions as a drug treatment facility but they like to focus on the fact that they're providing places to do drugs.)

It's pretty crazy how fast fentanyl hit the market. Someone I went to highschool with overdosed within like the first month when it came out.

[QUOTE=pentium;51541800]I've seen weed cut with many things.[/QUOTE] I've only ever met one person who has ever had their weed laced and it was by someone who they knew in order to fuck with them. Unless you're buying from the most shady stupid place you'll never encounter weed laced unknowingly.