Here is
the first half of the year 2007’s
heroin in the news:
Right
off the bat it should be mentioned that
in March, research published by the Lancet,
proposed a new framework for the classification
of harmful substances, based on the actual
risks posed to society. They ranked the
top 10 most notorious substances in society
and sitting on top of the list is heroin.
If you are asking yourself “Now
why is that?” You can investigate
the comparisons by following up on the
paper itself or you may gain some insight
by reading on.
In Chicago March 2007, gang members mixed
the painkiller fentanyl with heroin and
sold it in city public housing complexes,
killing at least five people. Lacing heroin
with fentanyl has killed hundreds of people
in the United States since 2005. Two hundred
people have died in Cook County alone
from fentanyl-laced heroin.
Of course, in 2007 while the heroin is
bad, the money is good. This enticing
theme has spun the Taliban into a 180.
While initially condemning drug use because
the Quran forbids it, the new line is
that it is OK to grow but not OK to use.
However if you grow it and receive money
for it the heroin will be used. The Taliban
is simply taxing the farmers on their
crop that is worth approximately 700 million
dollars. The taxes extract in the ballpark
of 20 percent. Who would have thought
tithing would become so evil? (Sympathy
for the Devil anyone?).
Heroin dealers have turned to marketing
their product differently by combining
Tylenol PM with heroin and calling it
“cheese”, which is suppose
to remove the stigma that the name heroin
has to it. Not too much of a stigma has
been built up in the heroin dealers’
customers though, since most of the people
they are marketing it to are kids that
are 14 years old. As of February of this
school year, 122 kids have been arrested
for “cheese” in the Dallas
school system and the average age is 14
years old.
Heroin and hepatitis C are all the rage
in prisons this year, with 40 percent
of the inmates being infected, while only
2 percent of the general population is
infected with hepatitis C. Hepatitis C
is commonly linked to infected needles
used for drugs (read heroin).
In the heroin 2007 political environment,
Rudy Giuliani is running for president
and his exploits as a prosecuting attorney
are coming back in the news. The "pizza
connection" trial resulted in the
conviction of 18 Mafia-backed drug dealers
that operated through pizza parlors. The
ring imported an estimated $1.6 billion
worth of heroin into the United States.
It was one of the longest criminal cases
in federal court history.
Monday, April 16, 2007- Seventeen bodies
were found in cars or stuffed in garbage
bags dumped in the street throughout Mexico.
This escalation of violence appears to
be brought on by warring factions of drug
gangs. Mexican drug gangs make 20 to 30
million dollars a year trafficking marijuana
(the gateway drug), cocaine (the party
drug), methamphetamine (the I want to
look 65 when I am 40 drug) and heroin
(the Number one notorious substance in
society).
