Op-Ed The rising appetite for powerful drugs like fentanyl is a direct result of Australia’s failing prohibition policies

thegreenhand

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The rising appetite for powerful drugs like fentanyl is a direct result of Australia’s failing prohibition policies​

Greg Denham
The Guardian
30 Aug 2022

Excerpts:

Alarm bells should ring when Australian police announce in quick succession record seizures of ice and fentanyl at our border. The arrival of fentanyl is particularly concerning – this powerful synthetic opioid has led to the deaths of thousands of people in Canada and the US over the past five years. A central nervous system depressant, fentanyl is estimated to be 50 times more powerful than heroin. The 11kg recently seized by Australian federal police is reported to be the equivalent of 5m “street hits”.
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But while increased health-focused responses are essential and will help stem the tide, tough questions also need to be asked about our policies and laws that perpetuate the myth that the war on drugs is winnable through prohibition. State governments, such as those in New South Wales and Victoria, need to act on the recommendations from experts and inquiries which they consistently choose to ignore because of their continued commitment to drug prohibition and veiled acceptance that drug users are necessary collateral damage in the war on drugs. It is time Australia had a serious conversation about the decriminalisation of all drugs.
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The road to hell is unfortunately often paved with good intentions. An astronomical problem with drug prohibition, is that with intentions of doing societal good, it exponentially causes the opposite. From narco states where there is mass murder of innocent college students like in Mexico, to the unregulated street product killing so many, to the destruction of of souls with mass incarceration in the US and generational family unit decomposition.. its an exponential self generating plague.
 
neversickanymore said:
The road to hell is unfortunately often paved with good intentions. An astronomical problem with drug prohibition, is that with intentions of doing societal good, it exponentially causes the opposite. From narco states where there is mass murder of innocent college students like in Mexico, to the unregulated street product killing so many, to the destruction of of souls with mass incarceration in the US and generational family unit decomposition.. its an exponential self generating plague.
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There's not even an 'intention to do good' behind prohibition. It started with the anti-opium laws and those were driven by political and economic expediency.
 
I hate when they phrase titles like that. There is no "rising appetite" for fentanyl...among opioid-abusing subcultures, there is a small minority of users who were interested in or prefer fentanyl, usually in the form of fentanyl patches, but they represent a small, small minority compared to users who prefer heroin, oxycodone or other opioids.
 
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