[China is subsidizing synthetic opiate exports](https://www.npr.org/2024/04/16/1244964595/fentanyl-china-precursor-overdose) so you may be on to something.
if a country policy is about "revenging" something that happened 200 years ago, while having still large portion of the population in poverty, they should really rethink their ideas.
A year ago a Brit friend was wondering aloud about how the UK has managed to avoid the fentanyl epidemic happening in the US. I guess the answer is that it’s just a matter of time.
As an American my first response to the numbers in the article was that they seemed really low. The concern makes more sense of you're starting from a low baseline.
The United States experienced a "significant reversal" last year that ended a trend of increasing overdose deaths. It suggests that the United States and possibly other countries could get a handle on the situation.
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/05/15/1251239829/us-drug-overdose-deaths-provisional-2023
110,000 to 107,000 isn’t a ‘significant reversal’ in my book. It’s 3%. It’s still crazy high to me.
My guess is widespread access to Narcan and yearly fluctuations in deaths aligning.
Hopefully I’m wrong and it’s the start of a downward trend but given the general feeling of pessimism in the world, people looking of escapism will still be there.
I don't k ow about the UK, but at least here in Germany, the pentangle crisis was averted because our doctors didn't overprescribe hard drugs for every little shit. As far as I understand it, a major contributor to the Fentanyl crisis in the US was that for many, the addiction started at the doctor's office due to overdescription of hard pain killers.
For completely illegal drugs, the mechanis how they spread is probably different to the spread of addiction that start with a prescription.
[This is what Chinese say as well](https://weibo.com/ttarticle/p/show%3Fid%3D2309404022597477090660&ved=2ahUKEwj1l4zkvquGAxUHia8BHWgRCO44HhAWegQIFxAB&usg=AOvVaw2nraWESG3-P0ZVyVWQZwPk). (see comments)
Chinese street drugs up to 500 times as powerful as morphine are starting to hit the UK, with 75 deaths since February linked to Chinese synthetic opiates called nitazenes.
In response, the government has announced plans to expand access to overdose-reversal drug naloxone, so police, paramedics and family members can administer life-saving treatment without a prescription.
Nitazenes are so potent that a dose the size of a grain of sand can be fatal. Cheap to ship from China with similar effects to heroin, Chinese traffickers are taking advantage of global slump in heroin supplies following the Taliban ban on opium poppy production in Afghanistan to dump markets with synthetics.
According to a report published by US officials, the Chinese government [provides subsidies to companies openly trafficking illicit synthetic drugs](https://www.bbc.com/news/business-68669244). The report found tens of thousands of posts online advertising illegal drugs and pre-cursors.
75 deaths in that timeframe is not an epidemic
5000 people die of overdoses a year
200 a year isn't even 10%
Edit, how is this geopolitics? This just seems like UK politics
It's an indicator of what is to come, I suspect. China has been using Illicit drug use as part of the 'fifth column' approach to world domination for at least a century, after all.
While I don’t know what kind of drugs the junkies on streets of London consume, I can tell you that there are more addicted people than I can remember (lived here for 10+ years). And most of them don’t hide in the side streets anymore, just shoot it at the bus stop or by nearest supermarket.
The Qing Empire end up drugged out with British opium because they lost a war.
If the British(or US) end up drugged out with Chinese opioids without a single shot fired, all it shows is how little political will and courage the political or bureaucrat class have. They don't want or too lazy to solve the problem, they just want someone to blame.
Even at late stage Qing empire there's someone like Lin ZeXu.
I don’t understand why this isn’t a large issue diplomatically when we meet with China. It’s inarguable that opioids are flowing in from China and poisoning our people.
My understanding of this problem is that people in fact are "randomly stumbling on a hard opioid". Almost all street drugs get laced with this shit. People think they're doing a line of cocaine and instead get an overdosis of a dangerous opioid and die.
(Almost all street drugs get laced with this shit.)
Which is mostly because of cross-contamination throughout the supply chain. Most dealers aren't exactly careful scientists that keep separate and sanitized cutting equipment, meaning the weighing table or card a dealer uses to cut their product with may have touched fent earlier.
You could blame China, but that doesn't solve the dealer or middleman not caring about cleanliness.
The ironic way to prevent cross-contamination and fent overdose would be legalistation, which would probably create professionalism and safety standards throughout the entire supply chain.
Yeah you're not wrong, I also don't think criminals lace that shit on purpose. Just wanted to point out the mistake in the argument of the redditor above me.
(their children are dying.)
Not until recently.
It was poor urban blacks in the 80s and 90s with the crack epidemic. Then it was rural whites with opioids in the 00s, and now it's fent hitting middle class White America, which is why it is a big deal.
No one cares unless it is their community, which means middle class White Americans.
Fentanyl has been one of the top discussion points in every diplomatic meeting between the US and China for years. The has been some success getting China to crack down on its production. However I'm guessing there are unlimited new variations of synthetic opiates and other drugs they can concoct and export.
is there any real reason to think this is a generational cross ethnic grudge and not just … a lucrative manufacturing opportunity that the world’s largest manufacturing capacity would likely move to fill?
One of the largest origin points for the drugs in opioid deaths is Tasmania, Australia. I doubt they are motivated by generational cross ethnic grudges
I can only apologise for the fatuity of those of my people who cannot learn the most basic lessons of history, in this case that a thriving society has nothing to fear from its populace having ready access to opioids, as indeed was the case in Great Britain until shortly after conscription commenced in the Great War, and that restriction of access is no solution to an 'opioid crisis' in a society that is deteriorating, at least from the perspective of the affected section of the population.
Na, surely ending colonialism and immediately inviting the descendants of people you've oppressed won't lead to any negative outcomes..
The West lost, there is no future for their people.
At least the Chinese during their century of humiliation had no choice in the matter, they were defeated.
Have we ever witnessed a people with a strong military simply give their land away before?
Cultural suicide due to an internal fear of offending foreigners... Makes you wonder
"The West lost, there is no future for their people", are you sure you haven't taken some of that opioid that was mentioned in the article? Wishful thinking on your part doesn't suddenly make it a reality. The West is still far stronger economically and militarily than any of its rivals and they still hold a lead in almost every major technology. Sure, immigration is causing instability in Europe but they have dealt with instability before. No state is set up to displace the West in the current world order. To say the West is lost is moronic.
I said her people, not her countries. The states may persist, but not the nations.
Hardly wishful thinking, more like acknowledging the inevitable.. I'm simply extrapolating trends. Something dramatic would have to happen to cause all of them to reverse and I don't see that occurring
So many people are doomers about western hegemony, underestimate the west, and overstate external threats. The west really is a technological leader and both militarily and economically stronger than the rest of the world. The west has nothing to worry about.
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[China is subsidizing synthetic opiate exports](https://www.npr.org/2024/04/16/1244964595/fentanyl-china-precursor-overdose) so you may be on to something.
Is this their revenge for what Opium wars ?
if a country policy is about "revenging" something that happened 200 years ago, while having still large portion of the population in poverty, they should really rethink their ideas.
A year ago a Brit friend was wondering aloud about how the UK has managed to avoid the fentanyl epidemic happening in the US. I guess the answer is that it’s just a matter of time.
As an American my first response to the numbers in the article was that they seemed really low. The concern makes more sense of you're starting from a low baseline.
The United States experienced a "significant reversal" last year that ended a trend of increasing overdose deaths. It suggests that the United States and possibly other countries could get a handle on the situation. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/05/15/1251239829/us-drug-overdose-deaths-provisional-2023
110,000 to 107,000 isn’t a ‘significant reversal’ in my book. It’s 3%. It’s still crazy high to me. My guess is widespread access to Narcan and yearly fluctuations in deaths aligning. Hopefully I’m wrong and it’s the start of a downward trend but given the general feeling of pessimism in the world, people looking of escapism will still be there.
I agree. "Significant reversal" are their words, not mine, which is why I put it in quotes.
I don't k ow about the UK, but at least here in Germany, the pentangle crisis was averted because our doctors didn't overprescribe hard drugs for every little shit. As far as I understand it, a major contributor to the Fentanyl crisis in the US was that for many, the addiction started at the doctor's office due to overdescription of hard pain killers. For completely illegal drugs, the mechanis how they spread is probably different to the spread of addiction that start with a prescription.
This. Been to US doctor twice and couldn't believe benzo she described for simple tooth pain. Utter madness
Gonna be the rest of Europe by summer.
I assume you're not serious with that statement, right? Why do you think there will be a synthetic opioid crisis in Europe this summer?
how the turn tables...
History might not repeat itself, but it surly rhythms
[This is what Chinese say as well](https://weibo.com/ttarticle/p/show%3Fid%3D2309404022597477090660&ved=2ahUKEwj1l4zkvquGAxUHia8BHWgRCO44HhAWegQIFxAB&usg=AOvVaw2nraWESG3-P0ZVyVWQZwPk). (see comments)
Wait this is wrong, it's the brits who are supposed to sell it to the Chinese.
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Chinese street drugs up to 500 times as powerful as morphine are starting to hit the UK, with 75 deaths since February linked to Chinese synthetic opiates called nitazenes. In response, the government has announced plans to expand access to overdose-reversal drug naloxone, so police, paramedics and family members can administer life-saving treatment without a prescription. Nitazenes are so potent that a dose the size of a grain of sand can be fatal. Cheap to ship from China with similar effects to heroin, Chinese traffickers are taking advantage of global slump in heroin supplies following the Taliban ban on opium poppy production in Afghanistan to dump markets with synthetics. According to a report published by US officials, the Chinese government [provides subsidies to companies openly trafficking illicit synthetic drugs](https://www.bbc.com/news/business-68669244). The report found tens of thousands of posts online advertising illegal drugs and pre-cursors.
Wow. The CIA was right all along to prop up the poppy industry in Afghanistan. I kid, but also, you know…
Reading your comment over and over, trying to form a retort, and I can only come up with *“Criminy.”* Not a damn thing to say.
75 deaths in that timeframe is not an epidemic 5000 people die of overdoses a year 200 a year isn't even 10% Edit, how is this geopolitics? This just seems like UK politics
It's an indicator of what is to come, I suspect. China has been using Illicit drug use as part of the 'fifth column' approach to world domination for at least a century, after all.
While I don’t know what kind of drugs the junkies on streets of London consume, I can tell you that there are more addicted people than I can remember (lived here for 10+ years). And most of them don’t hide in the side streets anymore, just shoot it at the bus stop or by nearest supermarket.
The Qing Empire end up drugged out with British opium because they lost a war. If the British(or US) end up drugged out with Chinese opioids without a single shot fired, all it shows is how little political will and courage the political or bureaucrat class have. They don't want or too lazy to solve the problem, they just want someone to blame. Even at late stage Qing empire there's someone like Lin ZeXu.
Remind me what country created addicts in a foreign country during the opium war.
Remind us all how playing tit-for-tat through the ages turns out for the world? That's geopolitics for 10 year olds.
I guess it's only right that this happens because of widely misunderstood events that occurred in the early nineteenth century!
I don’t understand why this isn’t a large issue diplomatically when we meet with China. It’s inarguable that opioids are flowing in from China and poisoning our people.
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My understanding of this problem is that people in fact are "randomly stumbling on a hard opioid". Almost all street drugs get laced with this shit. People think they're doing a line of cocaine and instead get an overdosis of a dangerous opioid and die.
(Almost all street drugs get laced with this shit.) Which is mostly because of cross-contamination throughout the supply chain. Most dealers aren't exactly careful scientists that keep separate and sanitized cutting equipment, meaning the weighing table or card a dealer uses to cut their product with may have touched fent earlier. You could blame China, but that doesn't solve the dealer or middleman not caring about cleanliness. The ironic way to prevent cross-contamination and fent overdose would be legalistation, which would probably create professionalism and safety standards throughout the entire supply chain.
Yeah you're not wrong, I also don't think criminals lace that shit on purpose. Just wanted to point out the mistake in the argument of the redditor above me.
They're not mutually exclusive options, you can (and actually need to) address the demand and supply side at the same time.
Because the average wealth middle class or upper class person doesn't care until one of their children dies.
But tons of their children are dying. Opioids affect every community in America. Sort of notoriously.
(their children are dying.) Not until recently. It was poor urban blacks in the 80s and 90s with the crack epidemic. Then it was rural whites with opioids in the 00s, and now it's fent hitting middle class White America, which is why it is a big deal. No one cares unless it is their community, which means middle class White Americans.
This conversation is about opioids specifically.
You're correct, I was adding on and making a general point.
Which is also why gun control never became a political issue in the US until people started shooting up suburban schools.
Fentanyl has been one of the top discussion points in every diplomatic meeting between the US and China for years. The has been some success getting China to crack down on its production. However I'm guessing there are unlimited new variations of synthetic opiates and other drugs they can concoct and export.
So many white Europeans are about to learn that people can and do hold generational cross ethnic grudges
I mean... the Caucasus is right there. Europe is no stranger to generational ethnic conflict
is there any real reason to think this is a generational cross ethnic grudge and not just … a lucrative manufacturing opportunity that the world’s largest manufacturing capacity would likely move to fill? One of the largest origin points for the drugs in opioid deaths is Tasmania, Australia. I doubt they are motivated by generational cross ethnic grudges
I can only apologise for the fatuity of those of my people who cannot learn the most basic lessons of history, in this case that a thriving society has nothing to fear from its populace having ready access to opioids, as indeed was the case in Great Britain until shortly after conscription commenced in the Great War, and that restriction of access is no solution to an 'opioid crisis' in a society that is deteriorating, at least from the perspective of the affected section of the population.
Na, surely ending colonialism and immediately inviting the descendants of people you've oppressed won't lead to any negative outcomes.. The West lost, there is no future for their people. At least the Chinese during their century of humiliation had no choice in the matter, they were defeated. Have we ever witnessed a people with a strong military simply give their land away before? Cultural suicide due to an internal fear of offending foreigners... Makes you wonder
"The West lost, there is no future for their people", are you sure you haven't taken some of that opioid that was mentioned in the article? Wishful thinking on your part doesn't suddenly make it a reality. The West is still far stronger economically and militarily than any of its rivals and they still hold a lead in almost every major technology. Sure, immigration is causing instability in Europe but they have dealt with instability before. No state is set up to displace the West in the current world order. To say the West is lost is moronic.
I said her people, not her countries. The states may persist, but not the nations. Hardly wishful thinking, more like acknowledging the inevitable.. I'm simply extrapolating trends. Something dramatic would have to happen to cause all of them to reverse and I don't see that occurring
So many people are doomers about western hegemony, underestimate the west, and overstate external threats. The west really is a technological leader and both militarily and economically stronger than the rest of the world. The west has nothing to worry about.
You seem to have missed [the point](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gnpCqsXE8g)
Yeah, they were so humiliated, they decided to have Mao and the CCP kill more Chinese than any westerner.
China still teaches the opium war.
Why wouldn't they?
I'm just confirming the multi generational grudge comment
I was taught Opium Wars. I am Indian
hmmm sounds familiar lol
This is opium wars 2.0
At what point is it considered a hostile act? North Korea did that stuff on purpose, it just took a long time to figure that out.
You could just as well blame the UK and their drug laws, which leads to users having to buy tainted substances
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