Fentanyl crisis: Drug overdoses claim unprecedented 914 lives in B.C. in 2016

[shockedcanadian]

In case anyone believes that drugs are just recreational. So many lost, their potential snuffed out. These drugs or horrible ad the drug dealer more evil. Seems to be the Canadian Way over the last few decades...

Drug overdoses claim unprecedented 914 lives in B.C. in 2016

llicit drug overdoses claimed the lives of 914 people in B.C. in 2016, the BC Coroners Service revealed Wednesday, making it the deadliest overdose year on record and representing an increase of nearly 80 percent from the year before.

December saw another spike in deaths with 142 recorded, up from the previous monthly high of 128 recorded in November of 2016.

Fentanyl, an opioid 100 times more potent than heroin, has been a "gamechanger" for drug overdose deaths in B.C., said Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe.

"This is an illicit drug dependency crisis and it is not likely to be resolved anytime soon," she said.

B.C. Health Minister Terry Lake announced more money for treatment beds and said the federal government needs to step up.

"The federal government should declare a federal public health emergency," said Lake.

"We haven't seen the response that I think this type of epidemic requires on a national scale."

 

[Mr. H.]

Several years ago, I cracked my ribs really bad. I told the doc I can't handle anything with codeine, so he prescribed Fentanyl patches. I read the enclosed literature and said fuck that I'd rather deal with the pain. Never once used them.

 

[Divine Wind]

In case anyone believes that drugs are just recreational. So many lost, their potential snuffed out. These drugs or horrible ad the drug dealer more evil. Seems to be the Canadian Way over the last few decades...

Drug overdoses claim unprecedented 914 lives in B.C. in 2016

llicit drug overdoses claimed the lives of 914 people in B.C. in 2016, the BC Coroners Service revealed Wednesday, making it the deadliest overdose year on record and representing an increase of nearly 80 percent from the year before.

December saw another spike in deaths with 142 recorded, up from the previous monthly high of 128 recorded in November of 2016.

Fentanyl, an opioid 100 times more potent than heroin, has been a "gamechanger" for drug overdose deaths in B.C., said Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe.

"This is an illicit drug dependency crisis and it is not likely to be resolved anytime soon," she said.

B.C. Health Minister Terry Lake announced more money for treatment beds and said the federal government needs to step up.

"The federal government should declare a federal public health emergency," said Lake.

"We haven't seen the response that I think this type of epidemic requires on a national scale."

Evolution in action. Sorry, but people who do heroin get what they deserve.

 

[Mr. H.]

I got wrapped around meth about 15 years ago. Crazy fucking times.
I beat it by staying away from that crowd.

 

[Mr. H.]

I always told my three sons, be very careful with whom you hang. If they do a crime, you're culpable by association. Thank God they listened.

 

[waltky]

Pretty expensive countermeasure in addition to the cost of the drugs...

Are Narcan Parties Really a Growing Trend?
May 12, 2017 - Police departments and media outlets across the country have reported that some heroin users are pushing their limits because they think naloxone will save their lives if they overdose. Some reports of “Narcan parties” or “Lazarus parties” indicate that users want to feel the experience of being brought back from the dead.

Most news stories feature police officers who say people who use heroin are taking advantage of the drug, and drug dealers are gaming the system. Some dealers are reportedly selling Narcan with heroin to avoid homicide charges. These reports call Narcan parties a growing trend and a misuse of the life-saving medication. Naloxone can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose in minutes.

Dr. Samuel A. Ball, President and CEO of The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, told DrugRehab.com there was no proof that Narcan increased the chances of someone continuing to use opioids. “Reports of so-called ‘Narcan parties’ are another example of the media sensationalizing unusual events surrounding drug addiction in a way that doesn’t help or protect people,” Ball said in a statement. “This media reporting adds to the stigma of addiction and diminishes the importance of a medicine that has saved thousands of lives.”

Allison Walsh of Advanced Recovery Systems agreed. The vice president of business development and branding said that intake specialists at ARS’s rehab centers hadn’t heard of clients participating in Narcan parties. ARS operates rehab facilities across the country. Users on Reddit have also been critical of the media reports. Many questioned why a person would waste money on heroin if they were planning to reverse the effects of the drug. “Who wants to intentionally overdose themselves only to be brought back straight into withdrawal and a state of absolute terror,” asked a Reddit user with the top comment on a Narcan party post.

Other Reddit users who said they used heroin wrote that access to Narcan makes them more likely to push boundaries, but none admitted to intentionally overdosing. “The benefits of widely available Narcan greatly outweigh the risks of its use, which addiction experts strongly agree are negligible,” Ball said. “No one dies because they have used Narcan, but 33,000 Americans died last year because their opioid overdose did not receive medical attention.”

The Benefits of Naloxone and Why It Needs to Be Available

See also:

Where does fentanyl come from? China is primary source in U.S., and much is ending up in Ohio
2/07/17, Fentanyl claimed the lives of 75 Ohioans in 2012, but by 2015 that number jumped to a staggering 1,155.

Ohio is now the overdose capital of the United States in no small part because of the rise of fentanyl. Per the Drug Enforcement Agency, Ohio had 3,861 positive lab tests for fentanyl in 2015, more than any other state. Massachusetts had the second most with 2,556 and Pennsylvania had the third most with 897. Nationwide that year U.S. law enforcement agencies seized a record 368 pounds of fentanyl. The drug is 50 times more powerful than heroin and even two milligrams is a potentially lethal dose according to the DEA. Fentanyl was first introduced more than 50 years ago and was approved for treating severe pain in the early 1990s, typically for advanced cancer patients. It’s since become a more commonly prescribed painkiller. U.S. doctors wrote 6.65 million fentanyl prescriptions in 2014.

Commonly prescribed in transdermal patches or lozenges, it can be “diverted from its medical applications and misused by removing the gel contents from patches and injecting or ingesting the drug, or compressing it into pill form,” according to a report from the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. Though there is some pharmaceutical fentanyl being diverted from the legitimate market, the DEA said that makes up “only a small portion of the fentanyl market.”

China is the primary source of fentanyl in the United States. The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission’s recently released report examines how “China’s illicit chemical production and inefficient U.S. and international counternarcotic efforts” created the stark increase in fentanyl-related deaths. “China is a global source of fentanyl and other illicit substances because the country’s vast chemical and pharmaceutical industries are weakly regulated and poorly monitored,” the report states. “Chinese law enforcement officials have struggled to adequately regulate thousands of chemical and pharmaceutical facilities operating legally and illegally in the country, leading to increased production and export of illicit chemicals and drugs.”

Some of the fentanyl comes straight to the United States from China, while other shipments come in from China to Mexico (and to a lesser extent) Canada before making its way into the U.S. The report said China exports a number of different fentanyl products into the U.S.: raw fentanyl, precursors, analogues, fentanyl-laced counterfeit prescription drugs like oxycodone, pill presses and other machinery necessary for fentanyl production. “Chinese chemical exporters utilize various methods to covertly ship drugs to the Western hemisphere, including sending illicit materials through a chain of forwarding systems, mislabeling narcotics shipments and modifying chemicals so they are not controlled in the United States,” the report stated. The exported products are sent to small-scale distributors and criminal organizations across the United States who package and sell the product.

MORE

 

[badger2]

It will be fairly easy to link Chinese plant chemistry for the historical evidence of the connections mentioned in this thread, and we will do that on the cancer cures thread.

 

[strollingbones]

i am so thankful my son never got involved with anything heavier than smoke and some other minor things....i have no clue what i did right if anything....one friend...both sons and then the daughter she took away from her oldest son and raised....all of them on meth...why her and not me? i will never know....

 

[badger2]

31 May 2017 30 Arrested as Feds Bust Fentanyl Trafficking Network
www.sentinelandenterprise.com/news/ci_31026270/30-arrested-feds-bust-fentanyl-trafficking-network

 

[badger2]

Buffalo's Opioid Intervention Court Touted as America's First
www.twcnews.com/nys/buffalo/news/2017/05/31/buffalo-lone-city-selected-federal-grant-aid-fight-against-heroin-epidemic.html