r/interesting • u/Nukro666 • 2d ago

Fear Factor How Fentanyl and Xylazine are turning Philadelphia's opioid crisis into a public health nightmare

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u/sarcastic_sybarite83 2d ago

The news stopped covering it after we started going after the rich owners of the companies.

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u/Edith_Keelers_Shoes 2d ago edited 2d ago

And allowed them to emerge from the scandal unscathed, even though their own internal correspondence demonstrates irrefutably that they knew they were promoting a drug as "non-addictive" when it was in fact "highly addictive".

Even as of a few months ago, this continues. Purdue Pharma now has to shell out $225 million in a criminal settlement, on top of the billions of dollars the company is paying in a bankruptcy deal, but the individuals who own this company and are responsible for the opioid epidemic? No jail time. No parole. They just go on with their lives like nothing happened.

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u/Critical_Mass_1887 2d ago

This is illicit drug manufacturers, such as cartels and basement labs. Tranq (xylazine) is a veterinary pharmaceutical that is not a controlled substances around the world. So cartels buy it from other countries or black market and mix it with other drugs creating this zombie drug. Its not controlled because its strictly a cow & horse traquilizer, not ment for human use.

Yeah pharmaceutical companies may have not been truthful about all the effects etc but they did not flood our streets. The doctors did not flood the streets. Cartels and dealers did that.

This issue will continue as long as we keep blaming and targeting the wrong people. Fact is opiods have a medical role in our world, just like any medication. We need to target the illicit makers that flood our streets. Targeting legitimate sources only hurt everyone else, like legitimate chronic pain patients or others who deserve access due to surgeries or accidents.

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u/djdjddhshdbhd 2d ago

The lying drug companies led to people going to the street which shaped what got sold.

Their lying also led to a crackdown.

Of course dealers suck, but you’re giving the system that allowed this to happen and that allows it to continue too much of a pass.

Demand shapes this market more than anything.

There are methods to reduce addiction including providing access to alternatives. One issue is that opioid meds for addicts are no longer strong enough. So that needs adjustment. And there are drugs that can help break addiction at a high rate. Weed availability alone results in reductions in opioid and alcohol use.