It’s good to get the perspective of these souls that inhabit the bottom of the pyramid. Thank you for providing their story. Hopefully they can find a way to sustain themselves. They’re really the part of the story that doesn’t get told.
Super article. Interesting, informative, well-written. It's always a good thing to know what's going on with our neighbor to the south. One of the biggest takeaways is the transition to fentanyl and how it impacts the growers--putting them out of work and forcing them to emigrate. Talk about the ripple effect! Bravo Ioan!
The timing of this article is very appropriate considering the international news about Afghanistan, pharmaceutical companies, headlines over fentanyl deaths and who is really smuggling fentanyl.
It now seems the Taliban is back in the drug business. They absolutely need the money. Their so-called anti-drug campaign, after coming into power again after the US backed out, has resulted in complete Taliban control of the opium fields and plus the added bonus of no hidden distribution payments to the CIA. The opium farmers are even in worst economic condition then the Mexican opium farmers. They absolutely cannot grow anything else with the Taliban controlling all means of production and the profit from distributing opium. Since 80% of the opium production comes from Afghanistan, opium is the only real foreign exchange for Afghanistan. All foreign aid requests from Afghanistan fizzled out after the Taliban's return to power. They can wait through the international collapse of heroin prices but as usual they can be ready to control the market when there is a market reaction to the uncontrolled use of synthetic drugs like fentanyl and the huge side effects to these drugs compared to heroin. Secretly, it seems Myanmar and Afghanistan are allies in the drug trade and side dealings in meth. Farmers of plant based products used in illegal drugs are being replaced with the production of synthetic analogues. The highs of the earth are being replaced by synthetic production of highs that can turn instantly into an immediate hell far exceeding the hell of plant based drugs.
Pharmaceutical companies have been involved in the research and production of synthetic drugs since World War II. Companies were established around the world to produce the precursors for this production including China. Chinese companies made their own formulas for the precursors and are conducting their revenge against the West for the opium wars in China that left 90 million junkies in China by 1910. Precursors for fentanyl are now starting to be made in quantity in the United States. The profits are too large to ignore and our restrictions against China are accelerating the production. InSys Therapeutics companies executives who were convicted of racketeering and a private equity company in 2023 convicted of violating the controlled substances act, gave everyone a window into what will happen in the future.
The increasing headlines about the "catastrophic number of fentanyl deaths" and "the heavy toll America is now facing" are absurd when you compare it to the real crisis never mentioned, never discussed because you cannot blame China nor illegals coming over the border, and that is 178,307 lives died just in 2020-2021 from excessive alcohol use almost double that of fentanyl overdoses. Who are you going to blame now, Scotland for selling us the whisky or the Germans for the beer recipes? 86% of convictions for fentanyl trafficking in the US were American citizens and 96% of all fentanyl seizures since the start of 2023 were at legal ports of entry not the desert with illegals hauling the load. Propaganda is oozing out the pores of our government agencies, officials and politicians.
Great work, as usual. Shows the predictable lack of foresight by the cartels; opting for a bunch of imported chemicals for their products, instead of dirt, water, seeds and sunlight. Doesn't matter if the chemicals are cheaper, their supply (+ their price) ain't guaranteed; and no loyalty from rural farmers comes with them. The cartels' game now rests on a long, thin thread of ocean, beset with state-sponsored scissors and competitors' knives.
I'm sad to hear that your flower business is experiencing hard times.
It’s good to get the perspective of these souls that inhabit the bottom of the pyramid. Thank you for providing their story. Hopefully they can find a way to sustain themselves. They’re really the part of the story that doesn’t get told.
Super article. Interesting, informative, well-written. It's always a good thing to know what's going on with our neighbor to the south. One of the biggest takeaways is the transition to fentanyl and how it impacts the growers--putting them out of work and forcing them to emigrate. Talk about the ripple effect! Bravo Ioan!
Typo: "The cartel shift from fentanyl to heroin came gradually and then suddenly." Should be heroin to fentanyl. Great article too!
The timing of this article is very appropriate considering the international news about Afghanistan, pharmaceutical companies, headlines over fentanyl deaths and who is really smuggling fentanyl.
It now seems the Taliban is back in the drug business. They absolutely need the money. Their so-called anti-drug campaign, after coming into power again after the US backed out, has resulted in complete Taliban control of the opium fields and plus the added bonus of no hidden distribution payments to the CIA. The opium farmers are even in worst economic condition then the Mexican opium farmers. They absolutely cannot grow anything else with the Taliban controlling all means of production and the profit from distributing opium. Since 80% of the opium production comes from Afghanistan, opium is the only real foreign exchange for Afghanistan. All foreign aid requests from Afghanistan fizzled out after the Taliban's return to power. They can wait through the international collapse of heroin prices but as usual they can be ready to control the market when there is a market reaction to the uncontrolled use of synthetic drugs like fentanyl and the huge side effects to these drugs compared to heroin. Secretly, it seems Myanmar and Afghanistan are allies in the drug trade and side dealings in meth. Farmers of plant based products used in illegal drugs are being replaced with the production of synthetic analogues. The highs of the earth are being replaced by synthetic production of highs that can turn instantly into an immediate hell far exceeding the hell of plant based drugs.
Pharmaceutical companies have been involved in the research and production of synthetic drugs since World War II. Companies were established around the world to produce the precursors for this production including China. Chinese companies made their own formulas for the precursors and are conducting their revenge against the West for the opium wars in China that left 90 million junkies in China by 1910. Precursors for fentanyl are now starting to be made in quantity in the United States. The profits are too large to ignore and our restrictions against China are accelerating the production. InSys Therapeutics companies executives who were convicted of racketeering and a private equity company in 2023 convicted of violating the controlled substances act, gave everyone a window into what will happen in the future.
The increasing headlines about the "catastrophic number of fentanyl deaths" and "the heavy toll America is now facing" are absurd when you compare it to the real crisis never mentioned, never discussed because you cannot blame China nor illegals coming over the border, and that is 178,307 lives died just in 2020-2021 from excessive alcohol use almost double that of fentanyl overdoses. Who are you going to blame now, Scotland for selling us the whisky or the Germans for the beer recipes? 86% of convictions for fentanyl trafficking in the US were American citizens and 96% of all fentanyl seizures since the start of 2023 were at legal ports of entry not the desert with illegals hauling the load. Propaganda is oozing out the pores of our government agencies, officials and politicians.
Great work, as usual. Shows the predictable lack of foresight by the cartels; opting for a bunch of imported chemicals for their products, instead of dirt, water, seeds and sunlight. Doesn't matter if the chemicals are cheaper, their supply (+ their price) ain't guaranteed; and no loyalty from rural farmers comes with them. The cartels' game now rests on a long, thin thread of ocean, beset with state-sponsored scissors and competitors' knives.
Makes me so sad.....