In the context of fentanyl, isn’t that completely irrelevant? So 5mg of fentanyl is 1/8 the mass of a tablet of baby aspirin. Now what?
I completely understand the aim is to illustrate how arbitrary outlawing possession of 40mg would be. I’m aware of the implications and I agree. But comparing fentanyl to baby aspirin generally doesn’t make sense and especially not in terms of mass or concentration.
I agree it’s pretty irrelevant to the fentanyl problem, but it’s a good way for people to estimate how much 40mg is. I think they meant a similar mass in this case. 40 mg of fentanyl is not necessarily 40mg of aspirin, but 40mg of fentanyl is the size of half a tablet. You see this all the time especially in the US, again with football fields or something like “which equates to about 3 large elephants”. Nobody know what that means but it gives some picture.
I’d completely agree with you if they said “less than half a tablet of aspirin worth of fentanyl can kill you”, but they are only showing what 40 mg looks like and not what it takes to harm someone. Harm is not in this article (or i missed it). The point about 40mg being arbitrary is made later in the article, where they say it’s often sold in 100mg doses so it’s just a trick to get everyone.
Not saying youre wrong, just saying how I perceived it.
Yeah, I get that. I read the article. But knowing that aspirin has a greater mass than fentanyl has no purpose, it’s not useful information. It’s not relevant to anything at all, so it’s just strange to mention.
It’s like saying 40mg of a banana would fit on the head of a pin to emphasize the point instead of using baby aspirin… yes, that’s a very small amount, but it doesn’t really provide additional context (other than to force someone to realize, “wow, things that weigh the same can do different things?!”) since it’s so obvious.
In the context of fentanyl, isn’t that completely irrelevant? So 5mg of fentanyl is 1/8 the mass of a tablet of baby aspirin. Now what?
I completely understand the aim is to illustrate how arbitrary outlawing possession of 40mg would be. I’m aware of the implications and I agree. But comparing fentanyl to baby aspirin generally doesn’t make sense and especially not in terms of mass or concentration.
I agree it’s pretty irrelevant to the fentanyl problem, but it’s a good way for people to estimate how much 40mg is. I think they meant a similar mass in this case. 40 mg of fentanyl is not necessarily 40mg of aspirin, but 40mg of fentanyl is the size of half a tablet. You see this all the time especially in the US, again with football fields or something like “which equates to about 3 large elephants”. Nobody know what that means but it gives some picture.
I’d completely agree with you if they said “less than half a tablet of aspirin worth of fentanyl can kill you”, but they are only showing what 40 mg looks like and not what it takes to harm someone. Harm is not in this article (or i missed it). The point about 40mg being arbitrary is made later in the article, where they say it’s often sold in 100mg doses so it’s just a trick to get everyone.
Not saying youre wrong, just saying how I perceived it.
Yeah, I get that. I read the article. But knowing that aspirin has a greater mass than fentanyl has no purpose, it’s not useful information. It’s not relevant to anything at all, so it’s just strange to mention.
It’s like saying 40mg of a banana would fit on the head of a pin to emphasize the point instead of using baby aspirin… yes, that’s a very small amount, but it doesn’t really provide additional context (other than to force someone to realize, “wow, things that weigh the same can do different things?!”) since it’s so obvious.