22 Deaths Now Blamed On Dangerously Potent, Fentanyl-Laced Heroin

[Jesus Malverde]

Source: CBS News

At least 22 people in Western Pennsylvania, including 15 in Allegheny County have now been killed by a deadly mix of heroin and the narcotic Fentanyl.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane made that announcement Monday.

Together the drugs are creating an extremely dangerous and potentially lethal combination for users.

And it was stamp bags like the ones discovered on East 20th Street in Homestead Monday by a joint Munhall-Homestead heroin investigation that helped put more stamp bag labels under a warning from law enforcement. Some of them were labeled “Bud Ice.”

The heroin is believed to be in bags stamped with the words Theraflu, Bud Ice and Income Tax.


Read more: http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2014/01/26/wave-of-heroin-deaths-in-pittsburgh-continues/

[tridim]

1. 0 deaths now blamed on non-toxic cannabis.

Yet, according to Federal drug schedules, Fentanyl is less dangerous than Cannabis.

Of course it is, idiot Feds.

Fuck opiates. I hate them.

[freebrew]

13. It's not the opiates that are the problem.

It's the man-made stuff, fentanyl is basically a barbiturate iirc. Heroin addiction can be overcome.
Did you know that no one has died from cold turkey from heroin? Barbs on the other hand have to be weaned off a little at a time. Otherwise you die.

I'm not a fan of H. But the only thing that stops my pain is codeine. Now the pharms are making it taboo just like they did with hemp. Open your eyes. It's now next to impossible to get a prescription for codeine. The Drs. want to peddlle the tramadol crap. It's poison. But apparently makes the pharms much $$$.

[brett_jv]

18. Fentanyl is not a barbiturate ...

You're right it's man-made, but it's a mu-agonist opioid, just like heroin, morphine, and the rest of 'em. It's just super, super strong, when measured by weight. Like 100+ times as powerful as morphine by weight. So you have have somebody out there mixing the stuff in w/heroin (probably to make it seem like super-good heroin) without the proper scientific/measuring acumen to consistently construct a 'safe' mixture. Users buy it, shoot up what they believe is a 'proper' amount of the dope, and it turns out to be wildly more potent, to the point that it kills them. This happens esp. easily when the people are co-dependent on alcohol, which many addicts are.

& this outcome is a direct product of the war on drugs, as a matter of fact.

Also, people have died going cold-turkey from heroin. It's quite rare, and usually only occurs when the person has otherwise compromised health (kidney or heart disease), and typically involves a 'jail' or similar type of situation where the person isn't able to get enough liquids (down) and die of dehydration due to the vomiting and diarrhea that are part of the w/d process.

[freebrew]

20. My mistake,

sorry.

[NaturalHigh]

22. No offense, tridim...

but if you'd had three back surgeries, you wouldn't think that opiates are quite so evil.

[tridim]

23. Legit pain management obviously isn't evil.

But the opiates that killed my friend certainly are.

[NaturalHigh]

24. I understand your pain about that.

Maybe I'm just a little defensive because so many people think of chronic pain patients as drug addicts. When the holier-than-thou types have gone a few days without sleep because the pain won't stop, they might see it differently.

The brief period between my first and second back surgeries were the worst days of my life. I seriously considered suicide, and that's even with all the drugs they had me on that just managed to shave the edge off the pain.

[MyOwnPeace]

2. But............

Gov. Corporate is snapping into action.
He's asked the Commonwealth Court to reconsider allowing the state to have voter ID laws ("This law will assure Mitt Romney being the next president" - State Senator Mike Turd's Eye).

[eggplant]

3. What does this have anything to do with the OP?

[onehandle]

4. Juxtaposition. I got it.

Kathleen Kane works for the people of Pennsylvania.

Corbett does not.

[bemildred]

5. So where'd they get the fentanyl?

Very potent stuff, there are long-standing problems with physician abuse of fentanyl, but it's hard to get for non-MDs.

Definitely ought not be mixed with smack, fentanyl is much more potent.

[Jesus Malverde]

6. The last time this happened it was an underground chemist...nt

[bemildred]

7. Ah. Yeah, not that complicated I suppose.

"Breaking Bad" is it?

[Jesus Malverde]

8. Complicated is getting the mix right so you don't kill your customers.

They say Junkies flock to these events cause they know it's so good it can kill. They want that heavy heavy high that nods them out. Death seems an acceptable risk to achieve that state.

It's a more recent phenomena to see people nodding out all over San Francisco. Oxycotin nation.

[bemildred]

10. Oh yeah, they are paying a lot for their little deaths as it is.

What they fear is no dope.

I have the good fortune not to appreciate opiates and opioids, except as medicines. They are great for colds and pain. I don't like them as sleep aids, but some do. And they will cure a case of the runs in nothing flat. I usually acquire them legally for pain, and then never use them except when I get a cold, which is rare since I stopped traveling and lost 50 lbs.

[Tom Ripley]

9. I remember a deadly wekend of that sweeping through the NC Triangle Area in the 90s

I lost more than one friend

[madrchsod]

11. fentanyl is a lovely drug.....

i was given fentanyl while is getting my brain scoped. the doctor was asked me if the drug was wearing off or if i was feeling any pain. the stuff is extremely pleasant.

mixing it with street heroin is certainly a one way trip to the morgue.

[Mz Pip]

14. Yes, it is.

I had a shot of it combined with a Valium like drug for an out patient procedure. No pain, no worries, just a very pleasant euphoria.

It's not something I would seek out though. Can't get anything done when you're that stoned.

[RedCappedBandit]

25. Well, yeah.

That's why people become hopelessly addicted to opiates. They feel good.

[workinclasszero]

12. In other news...

Worldwide, tobacco use causes more than 5 million deaths per year, and current trends show that tobacco use will cause more than 8 million deaths annually by 2030.4

http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fast_facts/

The harmful use of alcohol is a global problem which compromises both individual and social development. It results in 2.5 million deaths each year.

http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/facts/alcohol/en/

And deaths worldwide from the killer weed Mary Jane with roots straight from hell?

Well here is a chart:

Deaths from Marijuana v. 17 FDA-Approved Drugs
(Jan. 1, 1997 to June 30, 2005) Deaths from Grass as a primary cause:ZERO...Deaths from 17 FDA approved drugs as a primary cause: 10,008!

http://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000145

Oh and lets not forget totally legal prescription drugs approved by the government, your doc and law enforcement/DEA types that love busting harmless pot heads and stealing their property:

Prescription Painkillers Cause More Deaths than Crack: Global Study

Prescription painkillers such as Vicodin, OxyContin and codeine kill more people than street drugs such as crack and heroin, according to the first global survey of drug abuse.

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/vicodin-oxycontin-drug-deaths-vos-lancet-502721

I am sorry for the 22 deaths from bad heroin but 5 million a year flame out on cigs alone and nobody gives a damn yet the US government and virtually all states in the union will bust your ass, throw you in jail with violent criminals, steal your property and ruin your life forever if they catch you with one joint made from a harmless, medically miraculous WEED!

[Dash87]

15. Yuck. Why anyone would inject heroin is beyond me.

It's a nasty, deadly drug, even without additives.

[Sunlei]

17. So very addictive. Try it once and people think about trying it again.

Doesn't take long to make heroin a part of your daily life, injected or smoked.

Really a shame our 'drug war gov.' spends billions of our $$resources on an herbal plant-war, yet we have millions? of Americans addicted on dangerous drugs (including drugs RX)

[Sunlei]

16. shocking how many heroin addicts the USA has & the demographics of the addicts killed by Fentanyl.

The one dealer they arrested had 9,000 of the 'marked' stamp envelopes. He must have had a large customer base.

[brett_jv]

19. Another shocking stat to many would be how many heroin addicts started out with a legal Rx

Of the many, many people who are out there right now addicted to heroin, for a sizable %, their opioid addiction started out with a legal Rx for painkillers like codeine, vicodin, percocet, morphine, etc. Many found themselves addicted to opioids w/o even realizing it was happening. Meds ran out, they got dopesick, then started 'doctor shopping' ... next thing they know, they are in trouble, can't get Rx's from doctors anymore, but don't want to get dopesick (often cause they have jobs they have to be at) ... so they take to the streets, where they eventually discover smack is the cheapest and most consistently available opioid ... I've met MANY people who've ended up 'down that road' ...

Also, many heroin addicts are also chronic pain sufferers.

Personally I think it should just all be legalized. 99% of the problems to SOCIETY caused by opioid addiction would be solved if addicts could go to the pharmacy and buy stuff of known purity at a price commensurate with the production cost.

Believe it or not, similar to marijuana, opioids are not known to be associated with any disease or organ damage ... other than the addiction, pure Rx opioids, when safely administered, are basically harmless to the body. Obviously, there's an OD risk (unlike weed), but also surprisingly, most OD's are caused by ... exactly what you see described in this article. That wouldn't happen if the whole process was brought out of the shadows and dealt with humanely.

[Sunlei]

21. I believe it. I've known a few heroin addicts and they looked and were healthy

Downside is when they can't find any or don't have the money. I don't think it would be a good idea at all to decriminalize any addictive drugs. Though heroin and many other drugs should be moved to RX use. MJ should be totally decriminalized by the Federal Gov.

[mike_c]

26. you'd have to include tobacco on the banned list....

Nicotine is one of the most addictive drugs around, and it's delivery system makes it one of the most deadly. Many more people die from tobacco related illnesses than from opiate addictions.

[NaturalHigh]

27. There were some shitty comments for that story yeterday.

Basically, a lot of commenters were celebrating these deaths. I see they took most of them down today now that the story content has changed.

[kiawah]

28. Well.... I guess that makes heroin a bad idea then....

n/t