Nitazene Overdose Deaths on the Rise —The Iron Law of Prohibition Cannot Been Repealed

Jeffrey A. SingerLast week the Tennessee Department of Healthreported that overdose deaths from synthetic opioids classified asnitazenes have increased four ‐​fold between 2019 and 2021. Nitazenes, like fentanyl and its analogs, aresynthetic opioids that were originally developed to treat pain. They are anywhere from 10 to 20 times more potent than fentanyl. As with overdoses from fentanyl and other opioids, overdoses from nitazenes can be reversed by administering naloxone, although the antidote might need to be given repeatedly to the victims.The first nitazenes were developed in the late 1950s by the Swiss drug maker CIBA. None of the nitazene compounds were ever approved for marketing. The World Health Organizationreported that isotonitazene began appearing in forensic toxicology reports in Belgium, Canada, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Sweden, the U.K., and the U.S. in early 2019. Because law enforcement and health officials have only recently become aware that nitazenes have made their way onto the street, most labs have not been testing for it in overdose victims.News reports about the growing presence of nitazenes among the mix of street drugs should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with what has come to be known as “the iron law of prohibition. ”A application of what economists call theAlchian ‐​Allen Effect, the concept was applied to prohibition (alcohol, cannabis, and other illicit substances) by Richard Cowan in the 1980s, who stated it simply: “T...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs