41–50 of 68 posts
Marijuana use is widespread already. You can get passively high just by sitting outside one of the temples in himalayan india. Not too sure what this will change.
You can say the same thing about large parts of the US, but that doesn't mean there aren't incredibly strong reasons to formally legalizing it.
I wouldn't be so quick to label Opium legalization as 'progressive'. The Chinese experience with Opium in the 1800's was terrible and very damaging to their society. The nature of opiates is that they are very addictive addicted. Drug addiction is incredibly difficult to shake once it has taken hold. The way to deal with opiates is to never allow someone to become addicted in the first place. It's time for us to real…
> The Chinese experience with Opium in the 1800's was terrible and very damaging to their society. Opium was explicitly used as a tool of war by the British in order to colonize China. You can't look at what happened in the 1800s in China with opium without looking at the entire context in which it happened, how it was spread throughout society, how it was promoted, how it was sold, and how it was weaponized. Legaliz…
I wouldn't be so quick to label Opium legalization as 'progressive'. The Chinese experience with Opium in the 1800's was terrible and very damaging to their society. The nature of opiates is that they are very addictive addicted. Drug addiction is incredibly difficult to shake once it has taken hold. The way to deal with opiates is to never allow someone to become addicted in the first place. It's time for us to real…
As some have pointed out, opioid addiction is very hard to kick. I blame doctors over-prescribing opioids throughout the 2000s for the opioid crisis. More people are dying now because of Fentanyl and lack of supply to pure product (partially because doctors have gone from over prescribing to not prescribing). People who have already become addicted will mostly stay addicted.
> I love Western culture, but its prioritization of instant gratification can be myopic.
Their prioritization of locking humans in cages for modifying their perceptual experience is worse. Honest drug education is very important. "Opiates are extremely addictive" is honest, but locking people up for making a seemingly destructive life choice like that is medieval. And if you're not going to lock up the users, you shouldn't lock up the sellers either because there needs to be a safe supply. Legalization, education, and acceptance are the answer.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The Chinese experience with Opium in the 1800's was terrible and very damaging to their society. To play devil's advocate, China had loads of Opium pumped in by the British to pay for their tea debts. The British countered any attempt to regulate it, so they could keep their markets open. Opium is a dangerous substance, but I'd be interested to see what a well regulated opium market looks like. Unrefined opium is i…
> Unrefined opium is in the same ballpark as alcohol for addicitiveness. Which is not a good thing! Alcohol is pretty terrible dependency wise, outclassing many drugs by far. If we lived in a parallel universe where alcohol had just been discovered, very strong regulation for it would be very logical.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The Chinese experience with Opium in the 1800's was terrible and very damaging to their society. Opium was explicitly used as a tool of war by the British in order to colonize China. You can't look at what happened in the 1800s in China with opium without looking at the entire context in which it happened, how it was spread throughout society, how it was promoted, how it was sold, and how it was weaponized. Legaliz…
I argue that it is not. The destructiveness of opiates derives from their very nature, not the context surrounding their existence in a society.
A good example is heroin use in servicemen after the Vietnam war.
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2012/01/02/1444317...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
How does regulation decrease the addictiveness though? Every one of my friends who has become addicted to opiates got started with legal, regulated prescription drugs.
We have a serious problem when we conflate plant material with synthesized, concentrated compounds. People call their pills "medication" and the 4 plants I grow every summer in my backyard "drugs."
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The ability to potentially obtain a product of better quality, and to not have to deal with such shady people to get their dose.
So let's make it easier for people to perpetuate their addiction? No, we should be making it much harder for them to do so.
We've proven over time that 'get people to stop doing drugs' isn't a viable end game. It's not going to happen.
The best we can do is harm reduction, at least in this case we can stop people getting fentanyl, thinking it's oxycodone or heroin, and OD-ing.
I wouldn't be so quick to label Opium legalization as 'progressive'. The Chinese experience with Opium in the 1800's was terrible and very damaging to their society. The nature of opiates is that they are very addictive addicted. Drug addiction is incredibly difficult to shake once it has taken hold. The way to deal with opiates is to never allow someone to become addicted in the first place. It's time for us to real…
> The Chinese experience with Opium in the 1800's was terrible and very damaging to their society. Opium was explicitly used as a tool of war by the British in order to colonize China. You can't look at what happened in the 1800s in China with opium without looking at the entire context in which it happened, how it was spread throughout society, how it was promoted, how it was sold, and how it was weaponized. Legaliz…
I wouldn't be so quick to label Opium legalization as 'progressive'. The Chinese experience with Opium in the 1800's was terrible and very damaging to their society. The nature of opiates is that they are very addictive addicted. Drug addiction is incredibly difficult to shake once it has taken hold. The way to deal with opiates is to never allow someone to become addicted in the first place. It's time for us to real…
> The Chinese experience with Opium in the 1800's was terrible and very damaging to their society. Opium was explicitly used as a tool of war by the British in order to colonize China. You can't look at what happened in the 1800s in China with opium without looking at the entire context in which it happened, how it was spread throughout society, how it was promoted, how it was sold, and how it was weaponized. Legaliz…
Next, do you think the cartels or monopolists who come to control opium supply will show the poor of India more mercy? Do they currently?