As law enforcement around the country continue to battle the opioid epidemic currently raging in the U.S., federal officials say they’ve made a sizable bust in New York City, seizing enough fentanyl and heroin “to kill half the population” of the Big Apple. [More]
heroin
DOJ Shuts Down Online ‘Dark Market’ Peddling Opioids, Guns, & Hacking Tools
By 7.20.17
The world of criminal marketplaces selling deadly drugs, counterfeit products, malware, and weapons just got a bit smaller: The Department of Justice says it’s shut down AlphaBay, what it calls the largest online “dark market.”
[More]
As Cost Of Opioid Epidemic Rises, One City May Consider Not Reviving Addicts Who Repeatedly Overdose
By 6.26.17
With opioid painkiller and heroin use exploding to the point where police officers, firefighters, and even librarians are carrying (and using) Narcan, an emergency treatment that can revive someone who has overdosed. While the drug is saving lives, it’s not free, and one Ohio city is being asked to consider whether it has to use Narcan on people who repeatedly overdose. [More]
Ohio: Makers Of OxyContin, Percocet & Other Opioids Helped Fuel Drug Epidemic By Misleading Doctors, Patients
By 5.31.17
As Americans nationwide deal with the ongoing opioid epidemic, which has also resulted in the resurrection of heroin in many parts of the country, the Ohio Attorney General is accusing five major pharmaceutical companies of misleading the public about the safety and benefits of opioid painkillers. [More]
As Heroin Takes Hold, Some Librarians Learn How To Treat Overdoses
By 5.22.17
Public libraries aren’t merely book repositories; they also provide access to information and resources for the entire community. And in some neighborhoods, librarians are training themselves to revive heroin users who have overdosed. [More]
Federal Prosecutors: Drug Ring Sold Heroin Through Facebook, Snapchat
By 1.19.17
Legitimate businesses aren’t the only people using social media to reach customers, and online drug sales apparently aren’t relegated to darknet markets. Federal prosecutors say an alleged drug ring operating in Atlanta took advantage of various social platforms to advertise and accept heroin orders. [More]
Opioid Poisonings In Toddlers & Teens Tripled Over 15-Year Period
By 10.31.16
We’ve already seen how the opioid epidemic has spread like wildfire in the U.S. since the late ’90s, but a new study shows how children of every age group are increasingly being exposed (and exposing themselves) to dangerous levels of these painkillers. [More]
Heroin Mixed With Powerful Animal Tranquilizer Linked To Spike In Overdoses In Ohio
By 9.6.16
A sharp increase in heroin overdoses in the Cincinnati area — more than 200 in the last two weeks, killing three — has medical and law enforcement officials on edge. One possible culprit for the uptick? A super strong synthetic animal tranquilizer called carfentanil. [More]
Police Arrest Rite Aid Customer Because Shooting Up Heroin At The Pharmacy Isn’t Okay
By 8.6.14
Sure, waiting in line at the pharmacy can feel like a test of one’s patience during what feels like an insufferable amount of time. But while I’m not sure shooting up with heroin while you’re there makes the line go any faster, I do know it’ll get you kicked out of the pharmacy pretty darn quick, no matter how long you’ve been waiting. [More]
15 Product Trademarks That Have Become Victims Of Genericization
By 7.19.14 — Updated: 5.16.17
Sometimes, we hurt the ones we love. Which is why even if we didn’t mean to be so harsh, many products we use every day have become the victims of trademark genericization, meaning they’ve morphed from a single product identified under a name to an entire product category. And when courts get involved it becomes “genericide,” which sounds even more murderous. Can’t you just imagine Law & Order: Genericized Trademarks? [dun dun] [More]
Police: Hey, Knuckleheads — The Bathroom Of Chuck E. Cheese’s Is No Place To Be Smoking Heroin
By 7.11.14
Not that there’s anywhere you should be doing illegal drugs, but public places are exceptionally awful venues for such activities And ratcheting up the inappropriate level to 11? Smoking heroin in the bathroom of a Chuck E. Cheese, as police say two “knuckleheads” decided to do in California. [More]
Urban Outfitters Features Hairroin Salons With Free “Hypodermic Needle” Pens During Actual Heroin Epidemic
By 6.18.14
It seems Urban Outfitters hasn’t learned its lesson when it comes to mixing drug abuse and retail: After previously pulling prescription medication bottle items from its shelves, the store that brings in flocks of teenagers is now featuring a hair salon in a new New York City store called “Hairroin” (get it?), where shoppers can apparently get promotional hypodermic needle pens and other items emblazoned, “I Love Hairroin.” This, in a state with an actual heroin epidemic: The number of drug-related deaths more than doubled from 940 in 2004 to 2,044 in 2012, according to the New York Health Department. [More]
When The “Toy” In A Happy Meal Is Actually Heroin… Well, You See Where This Is Going
By 1.30.14
It seems it must be somewhat irresistible to use fast food as a fast way to deliver drugs to customers. In yet another tale of heroin at McDonald’s, a worker in Pennsylvania was arrested and accused of selling heroin in Happy Meals. Customers simply had to say, “I’d like to order a toy.” [More]
Asking Police If You Can Do Heroin After You’re Arrested For Shoplifting Will Prove Troublesome
By 1.29.14
It’s one thing to get in hot water for shoplifting but you might as well just jump into a lake of boiling water if you follow that by asking police if you can do a little heroin while under arrest. Cops in Minnesota stopped a woman suspected of shoplifting at Walmart and subsequently faced an odd request for someone in handcuffs: Mind if I do some drugs? [More]
McDonald’s Employee Arrested Because Heroin Is Not On The Dollar Menu & More
By 1.17.14
When you work somewhere that has a window through which to deliver items, it probably gets tempting to start serving up whatever you want in exchange for money. There are already transactions going on here there and everywhere at a McDonald’s, so allegedly one worker thought he’d sneak in a few others, handing out heroin instead of hamburgers. [More]
