Article War against drugs to blame for deadly escalation to more potent chemicals?

[C C]

https://www.cato.org/blog/prohibitions-c...ry-problem

INTRO: New York Times reporters Jonathan Corum and Matt Richtel have an excellent article in today’s edition reporting on “The Fast-Changing Chemistry of New, Dangerous Drugs.”

The piece describes how the illicit drug market has evolved from plant-based substances to highly potent synthetic drugs manufactured in small, often makeshift laboratories. In these settings, chemists can modify molecular structures to create ever-stronger variants that are easier to conceal and transport. These decentralized operations—sometimes little more than kitchen-scale setups—enable producers to stay ahead of law enforcement while saturating the market with unpredictable, ultra-potent products.

The article also includes especially clear, accessible illustrations of the molecules themselves, helping readers without a background in organic chemistry understand how easily illicit innovators can modify chemical structures to create new drugs.

The result is a drug supply that is not only stronger but also far more variable and opaque, increasing risks for people who use drugs because they cannot reliably know what they are getting or how potent it is. This dynamic continues to drive overdose rates in ways that prohibition has consistently failed to control.

[...] The implication is straightforward but often overlooked by policymakers and the press: Tougher enforcement does not eliminate drug use; it pushes the market in more dangerous directions. When authorities crack down on bulkier, less potent substances, suppliers logically shift to more compact, highly potent alternatives that are easier to produce, hide, and transport.

That is how we moved from diverted prescription pain pills to heroin, from heroin to fentanyl, and now to ever-more powerful synthetic analogs. Each escalation is not a failure of enforcement—it is its predictable result. As long as prohibition persists, the incentive structure will reward potency and unpredictability, driving the market toward substances that are deadlier per gram and harder to regulate informally. And beyond being an assault on adult autonomy, as I discuss in my book Your Body, Your Health Care, the war on drugs is ultimately a war on people, because people are the ones who bear the risks created by a policy that makes the drug supply progressively more dangerous... (MORE - missing details)

[Syne]

This is making completely ignorant and unjustified assumptions. First, illicit drug use has always gone in trends, with older trends often cycling back around, and always introduced newer, more potent and deadly street drugs. Second, legalizing drugs (decriminalizing or legalizing usage) makes them less profitable for illicit sales, so the drug dealers move on to more profitable products.

Fentanyl isn't even a new drug:

Fentanyl was developed in 1960 by Dr. Paul Janssen as a fast-acting, highly potent intravenous synthetic opioid intended to serve as a superior anesthetic and analgesic (pain reliever) for medical procedures. Its primary goal was to provide a safer, more effective alternative to morphine for managing severe pain in hospital settings.
- Google AI

Decriminalizing more drugs will only make the cartels and drug dealers look for the next, more potent, illicit drug to sell.