I was just wondering. Doesn't Turkey produce a lot of heroin? And isn't heroin a component

[Solomon]

of all the opioids that the multibillion dollar pharmaceutical companies have been selling to America?

And then there's Bolton saying he don't want to be a part of this "drug deal".

Hmmmm.

[alittlelark]

1. Drug deal -

I thought that the first time I heard Bolton’s statement

[Hekate]

2. WHAT?! And here's me thinking it was some kind of metaphor...

Christ in a trailer hitch.

[Solomon]

4. Me too. But I kept wondering what did he mean by that metaphor?

Then it occurred to me. It might not be a metaphor.

[leftstreet]

3. Remember Dr. Sanjay Gupta talking about opium?

Link to tweet

?s=2

[Kali]

5. used to but we bought them off in the 70s

I think Afganistan is the major producer now.

[Solomon]

9. Another place we can't seem to get out of.

[jmowreader]

6. Opium is the starting material for heroin

Not all opioids contain morphine (the first refinement step from opium) but many do.

And yes, Turkey is a major producer of opium.

[Voltaire2]

7. um, no.

Oxycodone is a synthetic opioid, it has nothing to do with heroin or opium production in Turkey.

[Major Nikon]

19. Not exactly

Oxycodone is synthesized from an alkaloid which comes from the opioid poppy. It is semi-synthetic unlike fully synthetic opioids like fentanyl and methadone.

[Voltaire2]

20. Sure, but just not related to illegal drug trade at all.

Whacko conspiracy theories belong on 4chan or 8chan or wherever it is that the permanently deluded hang out.

[Major Nikon]

21. True

The so-called "opioid" crisis is somewhat misleading to many, which leads to very bad public policy. The problem is with fully synthetic opioids which are similar to fentanyl, but produced on the illicit market. These drugs can be relatively easily produced from readily obtainable chemicals from China and other countries and because they are so potent can be much more easily distributed since a very small quantity produces many more individual doses.

Opium has been around for thousands of years. Heroin has been around for a couple of hundred. These drugs were never the problem we have today because they are extremely difficult to overdose on. The cases where this has happened are almost always inevitably due to drug mixing.

I wouldn't go as far to say those things are not related. One of the problems is people become addicted to commercial opioids and turn to the illicit market when the legitimate market turns them away due to bad public policy. I've always said all commercially available drugs should be accessible even for recreational purposes. Some of the more dangerous ones like opioids should still be prescription only, but it's much preferable to have an addict under a doctor's care vs getting these things on the street. Synthetic drugs are here to stay, and our drug policy is still the one that never worked with natural drugs. With synthetic drugs it's an absolute disaster that's just going to continue to get worse.

[UniteFightBack]

8. Well besides the drug deal comment being about Ukraine sure it all makes perfect sense.

[Solomon]

10. Sure. The crap that has hit the fan all of a sudden, couldn't possibly be connected in any way.

One thing is for sure. The legal opium market in the U.S. is under attack. And rightfully so.

As I said, I was just wondering what he could have possibly meant by using the term "drug deal".

[UniteFightBack]

11. He means illegal seedy shit that is what he means. nt

[Solomon]

14. Yes. That is what I thought.

Initially. But he could have said "seedy" or "unseemly" but he said drug deal. I think he was trying to tell us the deal was illegal. But then again, He could have said that too.

I'll put my tinfoil back on my shelf. There'll be something else soon to put it back on for. Shit is happening fast now.

[bobbieinok]

12. 2 Rudy guys arrested were in scheme to own legal pot shops in Bay Area, NV, other CA places

Read there's a Twitter thread from yesterday? on the subject

Thread was exploring Bolton saying he didn't want any part of drug stuff going down

[Dr Hobbitstein]

13. Most pharmaceutical opiods are synthetic. nt

[Solomon]

15. Ok thanks.

No heroin necessary.

[LeftInTX]

16. Opium is used in morphine and codeine

Codeine is rarely sold without being mixed with another medication, such as tylenol or cough medication.

Oxycontin does not contain opium. Neither does fentanyl. Also hydrocodone (synthetic codeine) does not contain opium.

My hunch is we get most of our heroin from the Western Hemisphere. Opium is super easy to grow and will grow just about anywhere. You can purchase the seed in small amount legally here in the US.

Poppy cultivation and heroin production have been decreasing steadily in Colombia since 2001, when cultivation reached a peak of 6,540 hectares. By 2009, it had dropped to 1,100 hectares, the lowest level of poppy cultivation recorded in Colombia, according to U.S. Government sources (no estimate was made in 2010 due to bad weather). The potential production of heroin dropped from 11.4 metric tons of pure heroin to 2.1 metric tons, in the same period. In contrast, opium poppy cultivation in Mexico remains high, and Mexico continues as the primary supplier of heroin to the United States. Estimated cultivation of opium poppy reached 10,500 hectares in 2012, with an estimated pure potential production of 26 metric tons.

https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/ondcp/global-heroin-market

Where opium grows in the US:


500 opium poppy seeds for $5.99 on Amazon

https://amzn.to/35HJ1JO

[LeftInTX]

17. Also the opioid crisis is mostly about big pharma and synthetics

Opium products are old, cheap and generic.

Oxycontin (synthetic) is very profitable because it is sustained release.

[real Cannabis calm]

18. Heroin and Opium is smuggled into the USA, from Turkey