Pills that kill: why are thousands dying from #fentanyl abuse? | Global | The Guardian
▻https://www.theguardian.com/global/2016/dec/11/pills-that-kill-why-are-thousands-dying-from-fentanyl-abuse-
By the time the epidemic finally started to get public and political attention, more than two million Americans were addicted to opioid painkillers. Those who finally managed to shake off the drug often did so only at the cost of jobs, relationships and homes.
After the government finally began to curb painkiller prescriptions, making it more difficult for addicts to find the pills and forcing up black market prices, Mexican drug cartels stepped in to flood the US with the real thing – heroin – in quantities not seen since the 1970s. But, as profitable as the resurgence of heroin is to the cartels, it is labour intensive and time-consuming to grow and harvest poppies. Then there are the risks of smuggling bulky quantities of the drug into the US.
The ingredients for fentanyl, on the other hand, are openly available in China and easily imported ready for manufacture.
#pharma #antidouleurs #répression #drogue #chine #mexique #carfentanil (et aussi #Prince, une des premières victimes de ce #marché_noir)