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The Mafia may be keeping fentanyl out of Italy

204 points · 269 comments · runeks

  1. bilekas · · focus · HN ↗
    I'm no expert, but I've always thought that adding much more risk to the lives of your customers unnecessarily is not good for business.
    1. Someone · · focus · HN ↗
      In this market, a better high for less money will attract lots of customers, even if it is less healthy than the alternative.

      So, if you’re in the business of selling the somewhat healthier product, and one supplier starts to supply the otherwise superior product, that’s not good for business, either. You will lose customers.

      Now, do you accept that, saying “I won’t sell that”, do you fight to outlaw the product (will be hard given at you’re not selling healthy products, either), do you fight the suppliers of the new product (a gang war) or do you add the product to your inventory?

      There often isn’t a clear choice; each option has its pros and cons.

      1. bigfishrunning · · focus · HN ↗
        "less healthy" is a bit of an understatement; they're not selling cigarettes that will kill you in the long term (or even the medium or short term). Fentanyl will kill you the first time you're exposed to it.

        Increasing the potency of some drug with fentanyl is an interesting choice, because by the time the user *knows* how strong it is, there's some likelihood they're already dead.

        1. Someone · · focus · HN ↗
          > Fentanyl will kill you the first time you're exposed to it.

          Its lethal dose is a lot smaller than that of heroin, but it isn’t guaranteed to kill. If it were, why is it used so much in medicine?

          <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Fentanyl" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Fentanyl: “Fentanyl is a highly potent synthetic opioid of the piperidine family, used primarily as pain medication

          […]

          In 2015, 1,600 kilograms (3,500 pounds) were used in healthcare globally.

          It is on the World Health Organization&#x27;s List of Essential Medicines.”

          1. jan_m_savage · · focus · HN ↗
            is it used in general anesthesia?

            for kids?

            1. bigfishrunning · · focus · HN ↗
              I don&#x27;t know about kids, but yes it is used in general anesthesia.
              1. jan_m_savage · · focus · HN ↗
                Thanks. That is alarming. I wonder what the long-term side effects would be even for one time, which my kid underwent. She is not the same anymore. She used to be so joyous.
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