Wellness & Well-being Highlights December 2
Wellness & Well-being Highlights
for the
Week of December 2, 2024
This week’s edition of our Worker Wellness & Well-being blog looks at the UK’s parliament provided citizens with terminal illnesses and less than 6 months to live the “right to die”—to the dangerous increase in High Intensity binge drinking—to the CDC’s attempt to prevent falls for elderly people in the US…which are on the rise. This week I would like to take this opportunity to address how Mexican Drug Cartels are recruiting university chemistry students to “cook” their Fentanyl.
The NYT interviewed a few of these new recruits and shared these insights below. First and foremost, the Cartels are interested in creating a stronger (and cleaner) product…further hooking users up north. However, equally important is their need to develop (synthesize) their own precursors vs rely on imports from China…which are on Trump’s hit list. Interestingly, this new tactic is claimed to be just another unforeseen byproduct of COVID…gummed up supply chains and worker shortages. These students are making nearly 2x what a “legitimate” chemist in Mexico would earn. And, not unlike other big companies, Cartels often pay for these students’ tuition plus provide signing bonuses. While the Cartels have not yet solved their “precursor” problem, they are now making more potent Fentanyl.1
Having worked in Mexico nearly 30 years ago, I can tell you that the focus back then was the massive amounts of marijuana moving across their border into the USA (Remember Prop 215?). I found it interesting that those related discussions often came down to the basic economic principle of supply and demand. In fact, I heard this saying on more than one occasion: “If your people would stop demanding the product, then our people would stop supplying it.” Sounded simple back then and is apparently still being applied to our current opioid crisis. To be sure, addiction is not a “one-size-fits-all” phenomenon. Even if the next administration could stop the flow of Fentanyl across our borders, most people who are addicted to opioids will find another means to fill their void. Sadly, not unlike how the Cartels found a means to fill their void in marijuana sales to the US by seeking another product in demand: Heroin. And, so the story goes…unless and until WE as a nation seriously address issues like SDOH2 and DoD3, 30 years from now, WE will continue this conversation but possibly with a focus on a different medium!
[2] https://www.cdc.gov/public-health-gateway/php/about/social-determinants-of-health.html
[3] https://www.statista.com/topics/5961/diseases-of-despair-in-the-us/
Labor Dept / Anti-Harassment Guide / Construction
Medically Assisted Suicide & UK (1)
Medically Assisted Suicide & UK (2)
Fentanyl & Cartels Recruiting Chemistry Students
Alcohol & High Intensity Binge Drinking
Weight loss drugs for Adolescents?
Weight loss drugs & Medicare/Medicaid
Housing the Chronically Homeless?
Split Families & Surviving Holidays
Brain Injuries & Chronic Conditions
Football & Another Head Injury
Teamsters / Trump / Secty of Labor Choice
Phoenix Drywall Co / Labor Laws / Fine
China holds back Wages & Pensions
PIPs & Firing Today’s Employees
Upcoming webinars, etc.:
NOTE: The links provided above are for informational purposes only. None of these serve as a substitute for medical advice one should obtain from his/her own primary care physician and/or mental health professional. Please contact johngaal@moaflcio.org with related questions or comments.
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