From what I understand, and I could be wrong, even black tar heroin is somewhat uncommon on the west coast these days, being replaced with powdered fentanyl (sometimes rocked up into chunks that kind of look like crumbles of concrete) and the pressed M30s ("blues").
From what I read opium farming has gone down in Mexico, and most of the tar heroin that is made is boosted with fentanyl. For someone used to taking 12 "blues" a day, tar heroin would feel pretty weak, so selling regular tar no longer makes sense from economic standpoint.
Apparently you can still find fentanyl-free tar heroin on the darkweb, so if that is true, someone is still making it.
Years ago, like a decade ago, tar heroin was the only heroin you could find on the west coast. People complained about it back then, and I always wished south american powder heroin #4 was available where I lived, but these days that sticky black tar heroin would actually be a sight for sore eyes these days given how shitty fentanyl is.
Here is an interesting article about the collapse of poppy growing industry in Mexico, tied to, of course the rise of fentanyl:
For decades, Mexico has been one of the major illegal opium poppy cultivation countries in the world. In 2017-2018 the price of the opium gum dropped abruptly to a historical low, causing a sudden collapse of production. We analyze the dynamics of ...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Of course, the US government spun the story differently:
“The sustained decrease in poppy cultivation and potential heroin production underlines the importance of maintaining strong United States-Mexico cooperation on drug policy,” said Acting Director of National Drug Control Policy Regina LaBelle."
