Capitalism Plus Dope Equals Genocide (Michael Cetewayo Tabor| Audio and Text) and Dope is Death (A Vice Film), with Supplemental: How the Young Lords Took Lincoln Hospital, “Left a Health Activism Legacy”

RBG Street Scholar 3 Comments

Last Updated 09-20-25

Click for standalone poster.

Source of audio: https://www.pacificaradioarchives.org/recording/bb2588

 Pop the document out from the upper right to read / expand / download (Feel free to click the audio above and then pop the pamphlet out to read along.)

Dangers of substiuting Heroin with Fentanyl

Both Heroin with Fentanyl are in the Opoid Drug Class. Substituting heroin with fentanyl poses significant dangers and risks. Both are opioid drugs, but fentanyl is much more potent than heroin, leading to various health and safety concerns. Here are some critical points outlining the dangers associated with this substitution:

1. Increased Risk of Overdose

  • Potency: Fentanyl is estimated to be 50 to 100 times more potent than heroin. This increased potency means that even a small amount can lead to a fatal overdose.
  • Unpredictability: Users may not be able to accurately gauge the strength of fentanyl, especially if it is mixed with other substances, leading to accidental overdoses.

2. Respiratory Depression

  • Life-Threatening Effects: Like other opioids, fentanyl can cause respiratory depression, where breathing slows down or stops entirely. This is the primary cause of death in opioid overdoses.
  • Rapid Onset: Fentanyl acts quickly, which can lead to sudden respiratory failure, leaving little time for intervention.

3. Withdrawal Symptoms

  • Severe Withdrawal: Transitioning from heroin to fentanyl may lead to intense withdrawal symptoms if the body is not accustomed to fentanyl. This can include pain, nausea, anxiety, and other distressing symptoms.
  • Potential for Increased Use: To avoid withdrawal symptoms, users may increase their fentanyl usage, leading to a higher risk of overdose.

4. Variability in Drug Supply

  • Illicit Manufacturing: Fentanyl is often produced illegally and may be mixed with other street drugs, including heroin, cocaine, or counterfeit pills. The variability in purity and composition increases the risk of overdose and other harmful effects.
  • Lack of Quality Control: Unlike pharmaceutical-grade fentanyl, illicitly manufactured fentanyl can contain unknown additives or impurities, heightening the risk of adverse reactions.

5. Mental Health Risks

  • Psychological Effects: Fentanyl use can lead to severe mood swings, depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues. Users may find it challenging to manage these effects, leading to further substance misuse.
  • Addiction Potential: Both heroin and fentanyl have high potential for addiction, but the potency of fentanyl can result in a quicker development of dependence.

6. Public Health Concerns

  • Epidemic Status: The rise of fentanyl has contributed significantly to the opioid epidemic in many regions, leading to increased rates of overdose deaths.
  • Emergency Response Challenges: First responders may face difficulties in treating fentanyl overdoses, as the drug may require higher doses of naloxone (Narcan) to reverse its effects compared to heroin.

7. Stigma and Social Consequences

  • Criminalization: The illegal nature of both heroin and fentanyl can lead to criminal charges, social stigma, and barriers to treatment and recovery.
  • Access to Care: Individuals using these substances may be reluctant to seek help due to fear of judgment or legal repercussions, exacerbating the cycle of addiction.

Conclusion

Substituting heroin with fentanyl carries significant risks, including a heightened potential for overdose, respiratory failure, severe withdrawal symptoms, and mental health issues. The unpredictability of illicit fentanyl and its increasing presence in the drug supply contribute to the ongoing opioid crisis.

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance use, it’s crucial to seek help from a healthcare professional or a support group. Treatment options and resources are available to support recovery and address the challenges of addiction.

If you have any further questions or need more information on this topic, feel free to ask!

Supplemental: How the Young Lords Took Lincoln Hospital, Left a Health Activism Legacy

(Link to read the article & see Trk #2 video in playlist that follows.)
How the Young Lords Took Lincoln Hospital, Left a Health Activism Legacy

8 Video Playlist.
Trk#1, Dope is Death, is the trailer of a film by mia donovan. The story of how Dr. Mutulu Shakur, stepfather of Tupac Shakur, along with fellow Black Panthers and the Young Lords, combined community health with radical politics to create the first acupuncture detoxification program in America in 1973 – a visionary project eventually deemed too dangerous to exist. (https://dopeisdeath.com/)
In Re of Trk # 3 Dope Is Death | The Short List, “The producers of Dope is Death would like to acknowledge an error in the documentary: Gloria Fontanez has been misidentified as Iris Morales, both were members of the Central Committee of the Young Lords. We apologize for this error and we would like to honor both women for their work.”


Learn more in RBG Communiversity eLibrary|

Illegal Drugs Reading and Video Education

Illegal Drugs Reading and Video Education Folder

Black Panther Party History_eBooks, Articles, Videos, Newsapers and Documents

Black Panther Party History_eBooks, Videos and Documents Folder

Dr. Mutulu Shakur Studies Collection

Dr. Mutulu Shakur Studies Collection Folder

Industrial Society and Its Future by Theodore John Kaczynski and Technological Slavery with Introduction-A Revolutionary for Our Times- by Dr. David Skrbina

RBG Street Scholar 1 Comment

“He had an IQ of 168. He entered Harvard at age of 16. He became an assistant professor at UC Berkeley at the age of 25. (For reference, most people wouldn’t have even finished a PhD by then.)” Source: https://www.quora.com/Why-did-Ted-Kaczynski-become-a-terrorist

For new comers, pop the document out from the upper right to read / expand / download

SUPPLEMENTAL:

Learn more in RBG Communiversity eLibrary | The Anarchist Collection—>Ted Kaczynski

Haki Madhubuti, aka Don L. Lee, presents his book, Taught By Women: Poems as Resistance Language: New and Selected_Sankofa Video & Books Interview, INTRO Walk the Way of the New World: Haki R. Madhubuti & Nation

RBG Street Scholar Leave a comment

Updated June 1, 2024

Click to open full size standalone poster.

RBG| Walk the Way of the New World: Haki R. Madhubuti & Nation

In these new and selected poems Madhubuti, formerly Don L. Lee, poet, publisher, editor, and activist, places us in lyrical proximity to a legacy of women whose lives he honors with heart warm verses and timeless reverence. Each poem is a vivid portraiture of the “magnificent energy” emanating from a rainbow of Black women. In this mosaic collection of poetry, Madhubuti celebrates the luminous spirits of women whose visible ‘greatness’ has left an indelible mark on his life’s work. In Taught By Women, Madhubuti sings their struggles and praises with pitch perfect precision, every note— an empowering song and unforgettable melody. From Third World Press Foundation & Bookstore

Slideshow images from TWP

Buy the book

Amiri Baraka Double Consciousness Audio Lecture and Strivings of the Negro People by WEB Du Bois

RBG Street Scholar 2 Comments

“Double-consciousness is a concept in social philosophy referring, originally, to a source of inward “twoness” putatively experienced by African-Americans because of their racialized oppression and devaluation in a white-dominated society. The concept is associated with William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, who introduced the term into social thought in his groundbreaking The Souls of Black Folk (1903).” From the article below.

 “Amiri Baraka, a BAM founder, wrote: We felt (and I still do feel) that Afro American people were and are still involved in a war. A war for Self Determination, Self Respect and Self Defense. It is a war for equal rights and democracy. But how can we press this struggle to victory if we suffer form a Double consciousness (Bracey et. al 17).” (From The Black Arts Movement’s Attack on W.E.B. Du Bois’ Theory of Double Consciousness by Tony Lindsay)

See related string in our eLibrary: MX Movie Review Periodicals

For new comers, pop the document out from the upper right to read / expand / download

SUPPLEMENTAL I: Strivings of the Negro People By W. E. B. Du Bois

Audio version of the above essay: (Feel free to click the audio below and then pop the article out to read along.)

SUPPLEMENTAL II: WEB Du Bois Criticizes Capitalism

W.E.B. DuBois Speaks! Socialism and the American Negro. The venerable W. E. B. DuBois (1868-1963), historian and activist, gives an address to the Wisconsin Socialist Club in Madison on socialism and the struggle of Black people in America. This speech was given on April 9, 1960 when DuBois was over 90 years of age and just months before his removal to Africa where he died Ghana on August 27, 1963 at the age of 95. In the speech Du Bois asserts that African Americans must learn the truth about socialism that they may “preserve their culture, get rid of poverty, ignorance and disease, and help America live up at least to a shadow of its vain boast as the land of the free and the home of the brave.”

To learn more go to RBG Communiversity’s eLibrary| Imamu Amiri Baraka Folder ; W.E.B. Du Bois Folder