this post was submitted on 04 Dec 2025
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Historical myth: The rumor started in the 1990s–2000s on drug forums (and later persisted on places like Reddit) because people noticed the close structural relationship and assumed “just swap the side chain.” In reality, pharmaceutical companies start from opium-derived precursors (thebaine → oxycodone → etc.) or full total synthesis — they never use naloxone as a starting material to make oxymorphone.
Well of course pharmaceutical companies don't, they can get cheaper base materials for opioids like the thebaine you mentioned. It was just someone proving it could be done and showing that it could be a potential concern one day. Right now it's a million times easier to get and cook fentanyl with precursors, so no one would bother with this synthesis. It's not like consumer nalaxone is cheap for the amount you get.
I dunno, I can go to the pharmacy right now and get naloxone for free if I wanted. They give that shit away here.
4 mg at a time... I think they might get suspicious after your 100th time.