Opoid crisis. Why is this happening!?!

[Yppej]

Razz to help you understand I recommend you read the book Dreamland. It addresses both the supply and demand sides of the epidemic.

[gimmethesimplelife]

Heroin is. So is fentanyl (what killed Michael Jackson.) From codeine to heroin--quite a drug.

It is not a new problem, though. My grandmother was a WWI nurse and her first husband was a morphine addict. Very common at the time, I guess. He threw her out of a second story window and they thought she would never be able to have children. That was in Nebraska.

I was given a very small dose of fentanyl at Maricopa Medical Center this past December when a procedure was done to drain my liver of it's infection....I can see why this stuff is so addictive. It's like I was awake and I kind of knew what was going on, but at the same time I was floating and could feel nothing - not even with tubes poking into my liver to drain the infection. I also noticed the rest of the day in the hospital that I did not need a pain killer of any sort - this stuff was that strong and long lasting. I would not want to take this outside of a supervised medical setting and only then if I truly needed it - I can understand it's addictive potential. Scary stuff and I believe an overdose of this is what caused the untimely death of Prince, (or the artist formerly known as). I am glad it exists in the sense that it made a very unpleasant procedure a walk in the park, but......it has a great deal of addictive potential. Scary. Rob

[catherine]

A lot of people on SSDI get regular, monthly prescriptions and sell them for the extra income.

The thing about heroin is it's very cheap. You don't have to go black market with prescription pills. The young men that I know that OD'd had done heroin. They were regular guys--they could be my sons. They worked, went to college, philosophized, wrote poetry, loved their families, and were addicted to heroin.

[razz]

I went in Amazon.ca and scared myself reading the reviews of Dreamland. It is a bigger issue than I thought.

[JaneV2.0]

I've read that Fentanyl is the new Big Thing--and very dangerous.

[Gardnr]

Heroin is. So is fentanyl (what killed Michael Jackson.)

Nope. Michael Jackson was given too much Propofol by a cardiologist who did not take care of him or monitor him. Lost his drive to breathe. (no amount of propofol is OK).

[Gardnr]

I've read that Fentanyl is the new Big Thing--and very dangerous.

Super cheap. Super fast. Super strong (50-100 X stronger than morphine depending on route). It comes in liquid form and is being mixed with other drugs and has become very dangerous as you state.

https://www.statnews.com/2016/09/29/...o-fatal-doses/

Back when I got my RN license, an RN could not administer Fentanyl. Now you can buy it laced in your heroin for a few bucks!

[Yppej]

Nope. Michael Jackson was given too much Propofol by a cardiologist who did not take care of him or monitor him. Lost his drive to breathe. (no amount of propofol is OK).

Tybee are you thinking of Prince? Fentanyl did him in.

[Williamsmith]

Super cheap. Super fast. Super strong (50-100 X stronger than morphine depending on route). It comes in liquid form and is being mixed with other drugs and has become very dangerous as you state.

https://www.statnews.com/2016/09/29/...o-fatal-doses/

Back when I got my RN license, an RN could not administer Fentanyl. Now you can buy it laced in your heroin for a few bucks!

If you scroll down to the bottom of the article and watch the video.....that is it in a nutshell. It can become anybody's nightmare.

[Tybee]

I think that's right, Yppej, I got confused.