- Jun 9, 2014
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Founding Member
From those who ACTUALLY WORK in the field and do these investigations, there is less than a percent or so of ODs (none in this part of the midwest that Im aware of) that started with Oxys or whatever prescription pills. The Oxy thing was in the 90s and done by the late 90s. For instance, my first prosecutor job we had a no drop policy for oxy deals in 98 or so. They had become quite rare by then. (I say it was over by late 90s in US, but not so much in Canada. They are still sling opoids in vast quantities in lieu of actual medical care).
Legit pills are just too damn expensive in the US. Heroin, fentanyl, and carfentanyl are a tenth or less in price. On the street, they want that fire, and cheap.
Anyway, in the REAL world, the way addicts get started is SMOKING heroin, sometimes unwittingly in laced mj. The first few tastes are free. Every good dealer knows. A very distant second is home pressed fentanyl mix pills. People just dont start off by injecting.
As for cartel on every corner, they service every county in the midwest at least. Youre probably right, there is surely somewhere they havent yet penetrated. However Im not aware of one. Heroin death numbers might provide that location if you care to search.
As for "lack of warnings" on oxy, it was in the news by the mid90s and they had schedule II controlled substance (high risk of addiction) labels right on the bottles.
I know you are probably just repeating what NPR/NBC has told you. Pill mills are nondoubt a problem, but they arent even a blip on the radar statistically when it comes to opioid deaths.
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