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Pharmaceutical Giants Caught Supplying Cartels With Tons of Bulk Ingredients to Produce Meth
The Free Thought Project, verified by other sources ^ | March 11, 2016 | John Vibes

Posted on 04/17/2017 10:45:52 AM PDT by LTC.Ret

Quote the article: "Prosecutors in Belgium have recently announced that executives with pharmaceutical companies based in the country will be charged with knowingly providing drug cartels with prescription drugs that were used to manufacture methamphetamine. . . . accused of providing the Mexican drug kingpin Ezio Figueroa Vazquez with several tons of ephedrine . . . seven executives who were charged with crimes . . . company made two shipments of two million pills containing pseudoephedrine in 2006 . . . big pharma drug Adderall is nearly identical to crystal meth . . .the only place to get massive quantities of a substance like ephedrine would be a pharmaceutical company . . . they are making millions of dollars on the deal."

(Excerpt) Read more at thefreethoughtproject.com ...


TOPICS: Health/Medicine; Society
KEYWORDS: berlex; bigpharma; crime; danas; drugcartels; drugs; epidemic; meth; opiods; opioid; pakistan; pharmaceuticals; wod
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To: Rockingham

He always seems to have an excuse for allowing this problem to continue ravaging our country. I have argued with him many times about tbis and I am convinced that he sees this problem as a solution.


81 posted on 04/17/2017 8:12:09 PM PDT by RC one (The 2nd Amendment is a doomsday provision, one designed for those exceptionally rare circumstances)
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To: baltimorepoet

Yes, it most definitely is. I’m happy that you recognize this.


82 posted on 04/17/2017 8:17:58 PM PDT by RC one (The 2nd Amendment is a doomsday provision, one designed for those exceptionally rare circumstances)
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To: RC one

Yet pediatrician offices are not known for diverting ketamine while DVM practices are. I suggest that this is not because of differences in virtue but because of the looser regulation and oversight that generally attaches to DVM offices.


83 posted on 04/17/2017 9:07:43 PM PDT by Rockingham
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To: RC one

Your lack of recognition of my sarcasm shows you as just another armchair know-it-all, strong in opinion and mediocre in aptitude and skills.


84 posted on 04/17/2017 9:21:25 PM PDT by baltimorepoet
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To: HiTech RedNeck
Alcoholism was a common problem in the US throughout the 19th century, with the opium extract laudanum also much abused. These ills prompted the temperance and prohibition movements and increasing legal restrictions on opioids and cocaine.

Wide scale substance abuse causes immense harm to innocent victims. Moreover, victimization and social calamities and breakdowns in general often bring a turning away from religious faith, as happened after the Black Death, the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, the US Civil War, and World War One. The mystery of evil takes an acute form in such instances, making it hard to escape the question of why a good deity would permit such harms.

85 posted on 04/17/2017 10:44:57 PM PDT by Rockingham
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To: baltimorepoet

Wow. That’s pretty hilarious considering how I was obviouly being sarcastic too. Lmao at you. I don’t normally get into fights with other freepers but this topic always seems to turn into a flame war. I want the problem fixed and I want it fixed right god ****** now and I have no patience for any SOB that stands in the way.


86 posted on 04/17/2017 11:50:07 PM PDT by RC one (The 2nd Amendment is a doomsday provision, one designed for those exceptionally rare circumstances)
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To: Rockingham

I don’t know who you are but I thoroughly RESENT your comment about Veterinary clinics diverting Ketamine. We often get broken into, and occasionally have drugs stolen when our REQUIRED safes are broken into -— very, very rare -— but in 40 years of practice I have only known of TWO Veterinarians that were involved in any kind of drug diversion.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion about my profession -— but you have no right to make up and spread slander.


87 posted on 04/18/2017 8:09:55 AM PDT by LTC.Ret
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To: LTC.Ret
You take my comments too broadly. Anyway, here is what the DEA says in a fact sheet on ketamine: "Most of the ketamine illegally distributed in the United States is diverted or stolen from legitimate sources, particularly veterinary clinics, or smuggled into the United States from Mexico."
88 posted on 04/18/2017 8:22:46 AM PDT by Rockingham
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To: Rockingham
Alcoholism was a common problem in the US throughout the 19th century, with the opium extract laudanum also much abused. These ills prompted the temperance and prohibition movements

Was it wise or unwise to end Prohibition? I say wise.

89 posted on 04/18/2017 11:31:46 AM PDT by NobleFree ("law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the right of an individual")
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To: NobleFree

It was wise to end Prohibition of alcohol, and it would have been wiser yet to have never adopted it.


90 posted on 04/18/2017 2:37:38 PM PDT by Rockingham
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To: Rockingham
Alcoholism was a common problem in the US throughout the 19th century, with the opium extract laudanum also much abused. These ills prompted the temperance and prohibition movements

Was it wise or unwise to end Prohibition? I say wise.

It was wise to end Prohibition of alcohol, and it would have been wiser yet to have never adopted it.

Would we by the same token be wise to end prohibitions of other popular mind-altering substances such as marijuana? I say so. If not, why the difference from alcohol policy?

91 posted on 04/19/2017 6:35:43 PM PDT by NobleFree ("law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the right of an individual")
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To: NobleFree

Different substances have different effects and consequences and thus logically lead to different policies. At the level of the entire population, marijuana is more harmful on the net than alcohol, with heroin and other opioids much harmful still.


92 posted on 04/19/2017 8:48:26 PM PDT by Rockingham
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To: Rockingham
At the level of the entire population, marijuana is more harmful on the net than alcohol

What evidence led you to that conclusion? Since alcohol is more addictive than marijuana, more violence-increasing, and the only one of the two that can lead to fatal overdose, I conclude exactly the opposite.

93 posted on 04/20/2017 7:22:23 AM PDT by NobleFree ("law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the right of an individual")
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To: NobleFree
The risks of dependency differ from one substance to another. So also do impairments and health risks vary as to the person, substance, and time scale. The result is that legal restrictions differ as are considered appropriate based on our admittedly imperfect understanding and experience.

Caffeine, for example, has a substantial risk of dependency but a minor risk of harm for almost everyone. That is why soft drinks given to children are permitted to contain a dose of caffeine.

Nevertheless, high doses of caffeine are toxic, and it has a potential for dependency and to compound the effects of alcohol, nicotine, and other substances. Experts differ as to the risks of high caffeine energy drinks, but enough cases of toxicity and death have been reported that no one with a lick of sense claims that they are without any risk if consumed to excess.

Yet rarely does caffeine impair anyone's work performance. Alcohol, marijuana, and opioids though all have enough risk of impairment that few organizations tolerate employees working under their influence.

Similarly, tobacco has a high risk of addiction and long term harm but a relatively small risk of harm in the short term. Alcohol, in moderation, is relatively benign, with psychological and genetic factors though disposing some to excess and to addiction.

As for cannabis, it causes short and long term impairments, especially of memory and attention, and there is a strong body of evidence that cannabis use is associated with schizophrenia. Broadly stated, not only are those who have or who are predisposed to such mental problems prone to use cannabis, but there is growing evidence that, in teens and genetically susceptible adults, cannabis use can trigger schizophrenia.

Moreover, the evidence suggests that schizophrenia patients with a history of cannabis use have a significantly higher burden of care than non-cannabis users. And not only does it seem that, for teens and the genetically susceptible, cannabis use increases the risk of schizophrenia and increases its severity.

Do not take my word for any of this. Do your own research through Google, PubMed, and medical texts. I have read enough on the subject and seen enough of the harms of marijuana use among my contemporaries to oppose its use and to fear the consequences of the wide scale legalization now underway.

For any who think marijuana is harmless and ought to be fully legal, I urge you to consider the consequences of: more doctors, lawyers, airline pilots, and other professionals who are heavy users; of roads loaded with semis and other vehicles driven by heavy users; and more schizophrenics wandering around loose and using marijuana, alcohol, and other drugs. That seems to be where we are headed -- and it will not be for the better.

94 posted on 04/20/2017 11:34:47 AM PDT by Rockingham
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To: Rockingham
At the level of the entire population, marijuana is more harmful on the net than alcohol

What evidence led you to that conclusion? Since alcohol is more addictive than marijuana, more violence-increasing, and the only one of the two that can lead to fatal overdose, I conclude exactly the opposite.

legal restrictions differ as are considered appropriate based on our admittedly imperfect understanding and experience.

Any "understanding and experience" that says "marijuana is more harmful on the net than alcohol" would appear to be not just imperfect but seriously defective.

For any who think marijuana is harmless

I haven't seen anyone saying that.

and ought to be fully legal, I urge you to consider the consequences of: more doctors, lawyers, airline pilots, and other professionals who are heavy users;

No differentiation there between marijuana and alcohol.

of roads loaded with semis and other vehicles driven by heavy users;

No differentiation there between marijuana and alcohol.

and more schizophrenics wandering around loose and using marijuana, alcohol

No differentiation there between marijuana and alcohol.

"Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is the most common co-occurring disorder in people with schizophrenia." - https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh26-2/99-102.pdf

95 posted on 04/20/2017 3:25:38 PM PDT by NobleFree ("law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the right of an individual")
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To: NobleFree
As I pointed out, marijuana is well-established as triggering and promoting schizophrenia and related mental disorders, with those effects concentrated on teens and the genetically susceptible. Moreover, marijuana impairs memory, learning, and mental effort on a nearly categorical and dose-dependent basis.

As for whether alcohol or marijuana are the worse burden, the common experience and judgment of modern, developed nations makes alcohol mostly legal and marijuana mostly illegal. You may disagree with that consensus but it is not reasonably open to dispute.

96 posted on 04/20/2017 9:15:26 PM PDT by Rockingham
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To: Rockingham
As I pointed out, marijuana is well-established as triggering and promoting schizophrenia

No, you corrected stated that it is "associated" - cause and effect is NOT "well-established".

Moreover, marijuana impairs memory, learning, and mental effort on a nearly categorical and dose-dependent basis.

Ditto for alcohol.

As for whether alcohol or marijuana are the worse burden, the common experience and judgment of modern, developed nations makes alcohol mostly legal and marijuana mostly illegal. You may disagree with that consensus but it is not reasonably open to dispute.

That the consensus is rationally based is very open to dispute, as I have argued. Proof by majority is the last gasp of a failing argument.

97 posted on 04/21/2017 11:39:06 AM PDT by NobleFree ("law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the right of an individual")
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To: NobleFree
A dispassionate look at the most recent medical studies indexed on PubMed shows the evidence as to the connection between marijuana and mental illness is stronger than I first supposed. Indeed, for those with schizophrenia, marijuana use makes their mental illness worse. A popular if illegal recreational drug that revs up schizophrenia is harmful by any reasonable measure.

Obviously, we differ in the value we place on modern societies in mostly permitting alcohol use but banning marijuana. Dismissing that as simple majority opinion gives inadequate credit to the experience and considered judgement of mankind. Wide scale de facto marijuana legalization is commonly a feature of undeveloped and usually dysfunctional societies, not of modern ones.

98 posted on 04/21/2017 1:04:10 PM PDT by Rockingham
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To: Rockingham
for those with schizophrenia, marijuana use makes their mental illness worse.

Whereas alcohol makes it better?

A popular if illegal recreational drug that revs up schizophrenia is harmful by any reasonable measure.

Beat that straw man. Who ever said it was harmless?

Obviously, we differ in the value we place on modern societies in mostly permitting alcohol use but banning marijuana. Dismissing that as simple majority opinion gives inadequate credit to the experience and considered judgement of mankind.

Much of mankind has had little experience with marijuana; it was criminalized in this country after generations of legality, amid a wave of demagogery about "crazy Mexicans" and white-woman seducing Negro jazz musicians.

99 posted on 04/21/2017 1:11:03 PM PDT by NobleFree ("law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the right of an individual")
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To: NobleFree
(1) Opposition to marijuana legalization is not an endorsement of alcohol, nor is it a recommendation that schizophrenics take up drinking.

(2) A serious argument for marijuana legalization ought to demonstrate that the harms of marijuana use will not be amplified by its legalization. That seems implausible though.

(3) I have never smoked marijuana, but, like most people these days, I have seen enough of its ill effects to incline me to oppose legalization. Demagoguery and racial stereotypes have nothing to do with it.

100 posted on 04/21/2017 2:47:27 PM PDT by Rockingham
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