Got drugs in my pocket and don’t know what to do with them

BY STEVEN KASZAB

This year has been a disaster for The US Justice Department. Fentanyl has become a scourge upon the North American and global plain. Over 100,000 Americans have died, with 65,000 directly related to the use of fentanyl in its many forms. That is just the USA. Let’s look at one Canadian Province and the effect of Fentanyl.

Approximately 83% of illicit drug toxicity deaths in B.C. in 2020 had extreme fentanyl concentrations. So out of 1,600 deaths 1,288 showed fentanyl’s presence. A further forty-nine suspected illicit drug deaths connected to fentanyl between June-November 2020. Approximately 70% of those dying in 2020 were aged 30-59 years old, with 89% between the ages of 19-59. Interestingly males accounted for 82% of all deaths. We have a drug pandemic here. Young and old, rich and poor, homeless and housed, no matter the race.

COVID-19 with all its other forms has exacerbated the growth of this opioid pandemic. Our neighbours often suffering from some form of stress, mental anguish, physical injuries, financial or personal misfortunes are willing to search out medication for pain relief or simply recreational use. The problem society now has is that what used to be one particular drug of choice, often now has small but deadly infused opioids within it. Yes, your black-market ganja/mota/stinkweed, acid hit, cocaine or heroin or even crystal meth are reshaped, with the use of this potent opioid.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid, man-made in laboratories. It does not rely upon opium poppy for its production. It is produced through a number of restricted chemicals with reactions requiring specialized skilled manufacturers.

The full formula for fentanyl is N-(2-phenethyl)-4-piperidinyl-N-phenyl-propanamide. Quite the mouthful, eh? The pharmaceutical industry developed fentanyl derivatives by manipulating the basis molecule to create various potencies. That is what pharmaceutical firms did legally. Whether intentionally or not, this industry saw a huge profit margin for itself and sold opioids in mass. Over the years the establishment recognized its addictive nature and limited opioid prescriptions to a bare minimum.

The damage was done. The number of addictions to this drug increased and suddenly many patients were expected to be weaned off the drug or go cold turkey. The pharmaceutical industry and your local health administrations/governments are responsible for the creation of this massive illicit drug trade in opioids.

Cartels, organized crime, China, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia, Syria, Cambodia and Eritrea entered the vacuum and began to recruit scientists and establish illegal laboratories throughout the world, including the US and Canada. These illegal organizations were supported by nations who gave them territory, provided illicit chemicals and turned a blind eye with a promise of protection for revenue or a piece of the action.

China is the globe’s largest producer of these restricted chemicals in the world. The illegal organizations already have transportation and distribution networks established long ago. What can the authorities do to harm and stop these organizations you may ask? Well, very little.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation along with the RCMP, Scotland Yard, many police forces and national military organizations act upon shipment movements and capture product, labs and personnel often, but certainly not enough times. The cocaine and heroin business have shown us that police capture only 5-11% of what enters the various global markets. Police are stretched thin while illegal organizations have an ever-increasing rolodex of recruits, friendly businesses, and partners in crime.

If you are taking or thinking of partaking in an illegally provided opioid, please consider the following and please think before you act.

• The production of illegal opioids often involves toxic chemicals using binding agents that are numerous, often unknown and most deadly. Legal fentanyl is often crushed and added to a powerful mix of uncertain medication or chemicals. A cigarette can have over 75 different things within it to bind and effect the smoker’s addiction. The stuff in opioids is more dangerous, addictive and life limiting. You don’t develop lung cancer using opioids; you just die of an overdose, go into paralysis/coma or become a brain-dead zombie. That is the truth.
• Illicit opioids are available in many different forms such as paper dots, pills or in a mix combined with just about anything. If you want it, you can certainly find it. Illegal opioids are advertised and sold on social media Facebook and TicTok. They are sold as painkillers, stud makers, and children’s medication too. British authorities noted that 7% of those who have died from opioids in 2020 were children under the age of 16. How did they get the stuff?
• Addiction to opioids happens quickly, often within using it 2-3 times. Like crystal meth there is a strong chemical reaction within your brain manipulating your ambitions, needs, lusts, dreams towards that next hit of drugs. A child finds a pill in parent’s medical chest, an old fella uses an unknown med he finds, an injured person just needs relief no matter the cost. The cost can be your health, your mental state, or your life.
• Your addiction is a slap in the face to all who love you, you love, could love in the future. Addiction is like an unstoppable dream that happens often without an end; only it does end, usually resulting in horrible realities. Nancy Reagan was strangely correct so long ago while on nationwide advertisements, looking you straight in the eye saying, “Just Say No”!

If you are a freedom loving person, step away from opioids since these drugs will colonize and destroy you. If you are using it, find local help immediately. There is no staining of your reputation. Seeking help is both wise and thoughtful. Who is more courageous and to be admired? A person who willingly or unknowingly takes an opioid that could kill them, or a person who through realization seeks help for themselves or another person. Yah!

Drugs can be an escape, a means to alter your perception of reality, relieve your pain, and seemingly alter your life’s situation. It can and does destroy many lives. The only approach to the use of opioids is through trained medical staff and does so legally. I have seen many people die, and it is the deaths through drug use that are most brutal and horrific. Experience, live, as our stay on earth is certainly limited.