[HN Gopher] Overdose deaths are falling in America because of a ...
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       Overdose deaths are falling in America because of a 'supply shock':
       study
        
       Author : marojejian
       Score  : 10 points
       Date   : 2026-01-10 19:54 UTC (3 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.economist.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.economist.com)
        
       | marojejian wrote:
       | archive: https://archive.is/C0Y0G#selection-1303.143-1303.175
       | 
       | this is my best guess for the research cited (paywalled):
       | https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aea6130
       | 
       | If true, the next question is what caused the supply shock?
        
       | Analemma_ wrote:
       | I thought this was already well-established public information?
       | That fentanyl came mostly from China was never in doubt, what
       | people were arguing about was whether this was happening with the
       | tacit approval of the Chinese government. Then in 2023 China
       | cracked down on it, and supplies dried up. Whether that was
       | because it was a big enough issue to get their attention, or it
       | was on purpose and they decided it was no longer serving their
       | interests I suspect we'll never know, but I definitely read
       | multiple articles in 2023 about the fentanyl crackdown in China.
        
         | defrost wrote:
         | Biden era cooperation with China on the issue was at the heart
         | of this.
         | 
         | It wasn't about the direct supply of Fentanyl, or even (by that
         | stage) the direct supply of Fentanyl precursor drugs .. (that
         | gangs used to industrial shed chem lab into Fentanyl) ... this
         | was cutting back and limiting bulk supply of the precursor
         | precursors to shady onselling networks to starve the labs.
         | 
         | Was going well (as per the paper) until US / China relations
         | went in the toilet for some other reason.
        
       | broochcoach wrote:
       | Maybe blowing up the boats works. Some of you owe our dear leader
       | an apology.
        
         | exe34 wrote:
         | hint: fentanyl doesn't travel from Venezuela to the US.
        
           | RickJWagner wrote:
           | Exactly right. The article says it starts in China, travels
           | to Mexico before being smuggled across the border.
        
         | Analemma_ wrote:
         | The article is about how overdose deaths began falling in 2023,
         | so perhaps you owe 2023's "dear leader" an apology.
        
         | amanaplanacanal wrote:
         | The paper is talking about a pre-trump downturn. Blowing up
         | boats had nothing to do with it.
        
         | jeltz wrote:
         | If so it is Biden who is owed the apology.
        
         | pinkmuffinere wrote:
         | > dear leader
         | 
         | lol what, this is insane, we don't live in 1984
        
         | RickJWagner wrote:
         | Not the boats for this study (though they may help also ).
         | 
         | From the article:
         | 
         | "About 70% of American overdose deaths are caused by fentanyl,
         | a synthetic opioid. Networks shift, but currently most American
         | street fentanyl starts as building-block chemicals produced in
         | China. Those are shipped to Mexico, where drug gangs formulate
         | them into fentanyl and smuggle it across the border."
        
         | DonHopkins wrote:
         | [delayed]
        
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       (page generated 2026-01-10 23:00 UTC)