fentanyl

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China Looks for Fentanyl Angle to Spark Tariff Negotiations

Security chief asks what the Trump administration wants done to stop chemicals' flow

(Newser) - With its economy already feeling the trade war with the US, China is preparing its people to dig in for a long battle. At the same time, officials are looking into whether fentanyl might serve as a conversation starter for the two countries, the Wall Street Journal reports. Chinese companies...

California Mayor Takes Heat for Homelessness 'Fix'

Rex Parris of Lancaster, California, says 'free fentanyl' will help 'purge' his city

(Newser) - A mayor in Southern California is facing calls for a recall after controversial comments he made more than once about his city's homeless population. KTLA reports that Lancaster's Rex Parris first landed on the radar for his remarks during a Feb. 25 City Council meeting , in which a...

Fentanyl's Hold on Portland Eased. Then Meth Arrived

The New York Times looks at the Maine town's current drug woe

(Newser) - When patients started missing appointments at one Maine addiction clinic, staffers braced themselves for a wave of opioid relapses—only to discover a different drug was taking over the city's streets. As Jan Hoffman reports in a lengthy piece for the New York Times , "cheap and plentiful"...

Trump Says He Told Trudeau: 'That's Not Good Enough'

President claims Canadian leader is using tariff fight to stay in power

(Newser) - President Trump says he had a call with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday that ended in a "somewhat" friendly manner—but it apparently wasn't enough to change Trump's mind about tariffs. "I told him that many people have died from Fentanyl that came through...

Owner of Daycare Where Toddler Fatally Ingested Fentanyl Sentenced

Grei Mendez gets 45 years behind bars, the same sentence as her husband

(Newser) - A woman who owned a New York City day care center where a toddler died after ingesting fentanyl has been sentenced to 45 years in prison after pleading guilty to federal drug charges, the AP reports. Grei Mendez, 37, dropped her head into her crossed arms in anguish as Judge...

Report: US Drones Search for Mexican Drug Labs

Secret program has apparently been expanded—with or without Mexico's cooperation

(Newser) - A secret government program to send US drones to look for fentanyl labs in Mexico has been dialed up under the Trump administration, reports the New York Times . Started under President Biden, the drone flights have increased under President Trump and his CIA director, John Ratcliffe, who've promised more...

She Was 15, He Was 17. Theirs Isn't a Love Story
She Was 15, He Was 17.
Theirs Isn't a Love Story
longform
Dec 15, 2024 6:00 AM CST

She Was 15, He Was 17. Theirs Isn't a Love Story

Maylia Sotelo sold fentanyl pills to Jack McDonough that killed him, and ProPublica digs in

(Newser) - When the fentanyl crisis began, most of its victims were adults. But as ProPublica reports, the rate of overdose deaths among teens has been surging since the pandemic. The outlet's in-depth story by Lizzie Presser brings home that truth by looking at how the lives of two Wisconsin teens...

McKinsey 'Deeply Sorry' for Helping Drugmaker Push Oxy

Consulting firm to pay $650M in settlement after assisting with Purdue Pharma's opioids push

(Newser) - The McKinsey & Company consulting firm has agreed to pay $650 million to settle a federal investigation into its work to help opioids manufacturer Purdue Pharma boost the sales of the highly addictive drug OxyContin, per court papers filed in Virginia on Friday. The AP reports that, as part of...

New Cartel Strategy in Mexico: Recruit Chemistry Students
Cartel Strategy May Signal
Scary New Phase of Drug War
in case you missed it
Dec 7, 2024 4:10 PM CST

Cartel Strategy May Signal Scary New Phase of Drug War

Chemistry students being recruited to ramp up fentanyl production, reports New York Times

(Newser) - It's like a work-study program, cartel-style. The New York Times reports that drug cartels in Mexico have been aggressively recruiting chemistry students from college campuses to ramp up their fentanyl game. The overriding goal is to figure out how to produce their own synthetic opioids from scratch and avoid...

After Trump Tariffs Threat, Mexico Makes Huge Drug Bust

Mexico makes what officials say is biggest fentanyl seizure ever there

(Newser) - Mexican soldiers and marines seized over a ton of fentanyl pills in two raids in the north, with officials calling it the biggest catch of the synthetic opioid in the country's history. The raids came after a sharp drop in fentanyl seizures in Mexico earlier this year, and days...

Man Who Stashed Fentanyl in Daycare Gets 45 Years

Felix Herrera-Garcia went on the run after toddler died from overdose

(Newser) - A man who hid a stash of fentanyl beneath the floorboards of a Bronx daycare center was sentenced to 45 years in prison Wednesday in connection with a toddler's fatal opioid overdose. Felix Herrera-Garcia previously pleaded guilty to drug charges and causing bodily harm after the death of Nicholas...

Big Drop in OD Deaths: 'This Has Not Happened by Accident'

Preliminary data from CDC shows 10% decrease in overdose deaths in 12-month span ending in April

(Newser) - Partly due to fentanyl rampaging through the narcotics pipeline, the United States has seen a depressingly high death count from drug overdoses in recent years. Now, however, signs of improvement: According to preliminary data from the states released in August by the CDC , there was a 10% drop in that...

DEA to Close 2 of Its 'Hard-Won' Offices in China

Move comes even as agency struggles to stem flow of fentanyl chemicals

(Newser) - The US Drug Enforcement Administration is shutting down two of its hard-won offices in China, the AP has learned—a move that comes even as the agency struggles to disrupt the flow of precursor chemicals from the country that have fueled a fentanyl epidemic in the US. "These closings...

New Scourge in Deaths of Minors: Pills Bought Online

AP investigation finds that minors are dying of fentanyl overdoses linked to tainted pills

(Newser) - Fentanyl overdoses have become a leading cause of death for minors in the last five years or so, even as overall drug use has dropped slightly. And social media, where tainted, fake prescription drugs can be obtained with just a few clicks, is a big part of the problem, the...

After Nurse Stole Women's Painkiller, Clinic Settles

Fertility patients endured excruciating pain after a nurse took their fentanyl, subbed in saline

(Newser) - Dozens of women who say they suffered excruciating pain at a Yale University fertility clinic because a nurse stole fentanyl for her own use and replaced it with saline have settled their lawsuits against the Ivy League school, per the AP . Patients and their lawyers announced the settlements Monday in...

Hospital Sued After Nurse Allegedly Put Tap Water in IVs

The patients were supposed to receive fentanyl

(Newser) - Attorneys representing both living and deceased patients of an Oregon hospital filed a $303 million lawsuit against the facility on Tuesday after a nurse was accused of replacing prescribed fentanyl with nonsterile tap water in intravenous drips. The wrongful death and medical malpractice complaint accuses Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center...

Prison Mail Worker Opened Letter, Was Dead Within Hours

Letter was laced with drugs, though it's not clear what caused his death

(Newser) - A federal prison inmate and two other people were charged Tuesday with conspiring to mail drugs to a penitentiary in California where a mailroom supervisor died this month after opening a letter that prosecutors said was laced with fentanyl and other substances, the AP reports. According to prosecutors, Jamar Jones,...

After US Pressure, China Yields on Fentanyl Chemicals

Beijing agrees to crack down on drug's precursors starting Sept. 1

(Newser) - China, one of the largest sources of chemicals used to produce fentanyl, will impose new restrictions on the substances, in a move signaling the Biden administration's pressure campaign has paid off. The administration has for years been pushing Beijing to impose stricter oversight over the production and sale of...

$3.6K of Online Orders Is Enough for $3M of Fentanyl

Reuters journalists show how easily it can be done

(Newser) - Question: How hard would it be to order supplies online to whip up a lucrative batch of fentanyl? Answer: "Astonishingly easy," declares Reuters after some of its reporters did exactly that. More specifically, the journalists shelled out a total of $3,607.18 (mostly in bitcoin) and bought...

Nurse Accused of Replacing Patients' Fentanyl With Water

44 Oregon patients allegedly harmed, 16 of whom died

(Newser) - An Oregon nurse is accused of replacing the fentanyl that had been prescribed to patients with non-sterile tap water, which was delivered to them via intravenous drips. Of the 44 patients authorities say were harmed by Dani Marie Schofield's alleged actions, 16 died—most while still hospitalized, but some...

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