I doubt it’s intentional. Dealers and other people in the middle of the chain cut drugs with things that lets them increase their supply. One could add active ingredients:
Fentanyl is similar to heroin but much cheaper. Adding fentanyl can make a supply of heroin appear to be better quality.
25-NBOME is occasionally sold as LSD. It has somewhat similar effects.
Benzocaines and other -caines could be added to cocaine. These -caines, including cocaine, all have a local numbing effect. Adding benzocaine can make the batch of cocaine feel like it’s got more cocaine than it actually does.
Meth and amphetamines are often added to MDMA, since amphetamines give a similar energy focus boost like MDMA does.
Oftentimes, the adulterant is inactive, and is added to the drug to make it bulkier.
None of those are meant by the drug dealer to harm the drug consumer. The main reason why drugs do kill so many people, especially opioids, is that they are of unknown potency. For example, if one always takes the se amount of heroin when they get high, they might OD if, for example, a specific batch had more fentanyl than usual. Fentanyl is especially especially bad because it is very very potent, making it really easy to OD on.
I saw a local advocate or social worker that went to the streets in Portland to get a first hand acct of when fent first hit the streets. Guy said that there was talk that a dealer had had 4 ODs on his batch and everyone went looking for it cause, you know, good stuff. That first wave killed about 60% of users that had less than a year of heavy use(tolerance, he called them new friends), but those that survived had built up their tolerance. So after it was gone everyone went back to the old regular heroin and it didnt quite hit. Users were pissed cause they were buying twice as much for nothing.
Second wave had less ODs because survivors had built up a tolerance, but there was still a lot. He said it was either less savy addicts that didnt take a test batch first before going up or impatient addicts that hadn’t had a good fix and had just been keeping withdrawals away. He saw a guy he shot up with that was 36 hrs into withdrawals. Take a higher dose than normal, so he could actually get high. That he smiled, laid out and started snoring about 2 minutes later. Probably died soon after cause he stopped breathing.
He said all serious addicts can’t go back to regular heroin and that some ppl,like him, take 2 light doses for withdrawals and to lower tolerance and take a normal dose to get high and the high isn’t the same. That its short and causes a lot of nausea. He wished he could somehow lower his tolerance and go back to heroin, but dealers dont sell non fent heroin cause no one wants it.
I doubt it’s intentional. Dealers and other people in the middle of the chain cut drugs with things that lets them increase their supply. One could add active ingredients:
Oftentimes, the adulterant is inactive, and is added to the drug to make it bulkier.
None of those are meant by the drug dealer to harm the drug consumer. The main reason why drugs do kill so many people, especially opioids, is that they are of unknown potency. For example, if one always takes the se amount of heroin when they get high, they might OD if, for example, a specific batch had more fentanyl than usual. Fentanyl is especially especially bad because it is very very potent, making it really easy to OD on.
LD50 is like 1-2mg.
I saw a local advocate or social worker that went to the streets in Portland to get a first hand acct of when fent first hit the streets. Guy said that there was talk that a dealer had had 4 ODs on his batch and everyone went looking for it cause, you know, good stuff. That first wave killed about 60% of users that had less than a year of heavy use(tolerance, he called them new friends), but those that survived had built up their tolerance. So after it was gone everyone went back to the old regular heroin and it didnt quite hit. Users were pissed cause they were buying twice as much for nothing.
Second wave had less ODs because survivors had built up a tolerance, but there was still a lot. He said it was either less savy addicts that didnt take a test batch first before going up or impatient addicts that hadn’t had a good fix and had just been keeping withdrawals away. He saw a guy he shot up with that was 36 hrs into withdrawals. Take a higher dose than normal, so he could actually get high. That he smiled, laid out and started snoring about 2 minutes later. Probably died soon after cause he stopped breathing.
He said all serious addicts can’t go back to regular heroin and that some ppl,like him, take 2 light doses for withdrawals and to lower tolerance and take a normal dose to get high and the high isn’t the same. That its short and causes a lot of nausea. He wished he could somehow lower his tolerance and go back to heroin, but dealers dont sell non fent heroin cause no one wants it.