[LargeCompanies]

On Facebook here in the middle to upper class suburbs of Baltimore I see friends of friends OD and dying once a month.

I don't understand why as growing up I dont recall such an epidemic, yet I do recall a ton of don't do drugs type of education. Has all those type PSAs & education in schools cease to exist and or not as well funded as back in the 80s and 90s?

[nfbush]

Rise in overdoses can be attributed to dealers adding fentanyl (an extrememly strong synthetic opiate) to their product. If a particular salesman has a product which people have reportedly overdosed on will flock to them as they must be selling a stronger product. Another scenario is where the chemical isn't there in the first place and the dealer is simply mixing fentanyl with a filler, due to it's extreme potency (a dose being less than a milligram), making even a small mistake in the mixing can lead to many overdoses especially with tolerant users used to taking larger amounts.

[zkms]

Opioid prohibition ruthlessly selects for opioids that have the highest effectiveness per unit volume -- because traffickers want to make the most profit on uncut material for the same amount of risk.

[pauljaworski]

Fentanyl is actually being synthesized by the Mexican cartels now and added to the heroin before it even makes it to the street dealers. It's getting really crazy.

[BurningFrog]

"Dreamland" is the book that explains all this: https://smile.amazon.com/Dreamland-True-Americas-Opiate-Epid...