15.3 Overdosed: The 2nd Wave: Heroin and IV Drug Use

Renegade Psych

Thanks for listening. I recommend watching this entire series on my YouTube channel due to there being several charts and graphics that you won't be able to see on other platforms; just search 'Renegade Psych' on YouTube to find our page. Future episodes will be live video recordings, but we'll still produce our audio-only version as well, so view on YouTube, listen on other platforms, or don't do either, Life is full of choices!

I recorded this series solo on a topic I consider myself very well-versed in, the drug/opioid epidemic, which has taken the lives of millions of Americans and caused medical and psychologic complications for hundreds of millions more, and has caused heartbreak in so many others caring for those with substance use disorders, in the last 25 years. While the official overdose fatality figures hover above 100,000 annually as of 2022, there are significant numbers of fatal overdoses that get logged as other deaths. The first episode focused on the scope of the problem, outlining that it is way more serious and severe than the 'official numbers' indicate and the second episode traced the evolution of the 1st wave of the epidemic involving an increase in the precriptions of Oxycontin and other opiates/opioids for minor aches and pains. This 3rd episode shows how the government, with apparently good intentions, tried to reduce the over-prescribing 1st wave of the epidemic by putting in regulatory constraints that actually created optimal conditions for the Xalisco cartel of Mexico, in its infancy prior to the 2nd wave, to become the primary producer and distrubitor of black-tar heroin, on its way to becoming the 2nd most powerful drug cartel in all of Mexico. We'll trace the evolution of the 2nd wave, as well as the massive increase in the amount of people injecting drugs (roughly 3.7 million Americans in 2018, or 5x more than just a few years prior to that in 2011), and the subsequent increase in so many dangerous and potentially deadly consequences or sequelae of Intravenous Drug Use.

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