L E F T O U T OF T H I S S T O R Y
1. Opium is the sap of the Poppy plant and is not refined or in any way altered from its natural state. Since it is naturally occurring it cannot be patented and is therefore virtually 'free' to produce, so if someone becomes addicted physically they at least face none of the nightmare price tag which US drug addicts face to gather the small fortunes (our laws force them to pay) for patented treatment drugs, or their illegal drugs in the US.
2. One has to wonder what role pharmaceutical companies play in disallowing the use of these very cheap naturally occurring drugs in the treatment of the addicts addicted to them. The patented drugs created for the legal treatment of addicts are not only chemically derived from these natural drugs, but they are also similarly addictive and sadly similarly expensive (of course the natural drugs are not expensive at all to produce when they are not banned and forced to the underground market).
3. Because there is no significant cost to Opium production (when it's legal) the addicts in this story are not involved in, or surrounded by, the deadly crime associated with the 'self policing' of the illegal drug industry in America. While it is undoubtedly unhealthy to be an opium addict, the fact that the subjects in this story have grown up using it and in some cases using it as food and yet still manage to function and work shows you how relatively benign it is compared to ‘man made’ or refined drugs which America is plagued with like Crystal Meth’ Cocaine-Crack and Heroin.
4. In the case of all four of these most dangerous drugs, the fact is that they only came into existence as a way for illegal drug dealers to be able to transit the most potency (or dollar value) in the smallest package. Refined Coca plant is made into Cocaine or Crack, to make it a smaller package. Poppy/Opium is refined into Heroin to make it a smaller package and Crystal Meth' is a purely man-made imitation of Cocaine and can be made from legally available non-prescription pharmaceuticals...the drawback here is that it is the most addictive and physically and psychologically damaging drug of all. Our efforts at prohibition of these age old naturally occurring drugs has led us to a point where the illegal drug industry has created a Frankenstein's Monster; a drug that immediately addicts, deforms and destroys the user; Crystal Meth'.
Heroin is made by distilling Opium down to a far more potent liquid and it is usually injected intravenously. This offers drastically greater health risks than does Opium usage…risk of overdose and instant death (impossible with Opium) and the spread of many diseases through the sharing of needles (unrelated to Opium). The IV Heroin addict is also drained of energy and productivity in their everyday life to a drastically higher degree than the Opium user.
5. But the most important NEGATIVE with our strategy of not treating drug users LEGALLY with their drug of choice (as humanity has allowed historically over our entire evolutionary history until the last few decades) is that countless billions of dollars annually go straight into the pockets of drug lords who corrupt Mexico and South American governments...AND these illegal profits go DIRECTLY INTO THE HANDS OF THE TALIBAN AND AL QAEDA in the Far East... and the same amount of money DOES NOT GO into the coffers of the legal medical profession in the USA...but they have to deal with the consequences nevertheless.
We need for the President of the USA and the FDA to allow our medical profession access to these drugs, not only to help addicts, but even more importantly, to finally take the illegal profit out of drug dependency and put it back where it belongs with the medical profession who can help those in need.
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