Synthetics

I remember reading about krokodil some years ago--the writers were very worried about this synthetic morphine. It was a problem in Russia, but krokodil abuse in the US: urban legend or not? California poison control seems to take it seriously but says reports tapered off a decade ago. The first link cites cheap heroin (and presumably fentanyl) and difficulty getting codeine (to synthesize it) in the US as militating against its adaption here.

I don't hear much about bath salts (synthetic cathinones=khat), but I gather they're still a problem.

And for those watching West Africa, there's kush--a combination of synthetic opioid and synthetic cannabinoid (a combination which, despite media hype last year, doesn't have to use human bones in its synthesis). It's claimed to be particularly addictive, but I haven't found anything remotely like solid numbers on how many guys use it or what the mean expected lifetime is.

Fentanyl's a problem here, and a friend of a friend lost a kid to heroin. I wonder how elastic the demand is for euphoria. If we successfully suppress the current opioids significantly, will some of these others fill in?

There's more than one kind of slavery.

UPDATE: Wrt kush in Liberia: this story claims 100,000 addicts, which sounds like a nice round number from the air, and a UNFPA 2023 report estimating 1 in 5 use narcotics. Careless reporting is common; that may mean narcotics specifically or all drugs generically. Someone counted 866 "drug dens" in Monrovia, which is by far the largest city. If each serviced 20-50 addicts, the 100,000 doesn't sound too far out of line. If 32% of the 5.7 million are youth, that's about 1.8 million, and if UNFPA is right that's about 350,000 drug users.