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Bill to Legalize Marijuana and Opium Cleared for Indian Parliament (2016)

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21–30 of 68 posts

Re: Bill to Legalize Marijuana and Opium Cleared for Indian Parliament (2016)

#21
post #19

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. 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…

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.

Re: Bill to Legalize Marijuana and Opium Cleared for Indian Parliament (2016)

#22
post #20
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yeah, legalizing opium is an odd choice. I don't understand it. Its addictive. It would make more sense to significantly decriminalize it, but keep it illegal, so that addicts can get treatment without fear of legal repercussion. I don't understand what would be gained by legalizing it wholesale though.

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.

Re: Bill to Legalize Marijuana and Opium Cleared for Indian Parliament (2016)

#24
post #18

Considering the opioid experience here in the US and the science showing how incredibly addictive it is, even after a few days use ... I find the opium legalization an odd choice. Marijuana fine by me. Opium, that sounds like it could be terrible.

Legalization efforts of hard drugs are not really efforts to stimulate drug use; rather they are intended to make visible addiction which is typically hidden underground. Marijuana is a bit of an odd case as it is generally considered harmless; there's an argument it never should have been illegal in the first place.

Re: Bill to Legalize Marijuana and Opium Cleared for Indian Parliament (2016)

#25
post #20
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yeah, legalizing opium is an odd choice. I don't understand it. Its addictive. It would make more sense to significantly decriminalize it, but keep it illegal, so that addicts can get treatment without fear of legal repercussion. I don't understand what would be gained by legalizing it wholesale though.

The ability to potentially obtain a product of better quality, and to not have to deal with such shady people to get their dose.

Opium is highly addictive regardless of who you get it from.

Re: Bill to Legalize Marijuana and Opium Cleared for Indian Parliament (2016)

#26
post #25
post #20

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.

Opium is highly addictive regardless of who you get it from.

Sure, that's not my point

Re: Bill to Legalize Marijuana and Opium Cleared for Indian Parliament (2016)

#27
post #25
post #20

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.

Opium is highly addictive regardless of who you get it from.

So is heroin. But the fact that heroin is illegal in the U.S. is what has lead to so many overdose deaths. Nobody really ever knows what they're taking or how much fentanyl is in it.

Re: Bill to Legalize Marijuana and Opium Cleared for Indian Parliament (2016)

#28
post #20

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.

[deleted]

Re: Bill to Legalize Marijuana and Opium Cleared for Indian Parliament (2016)

#29
post #19

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…

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.

Quality control can help (at least in making sure that the dosage and product is what it should be).

Having more resources educating people and recommending alternatives, rather than further marginalizing people, also seems also to have better effects (c.f. Portugal).

Re: Bill to Legalize Marijuana and Opium Cleared for Indian Parliament (2016)

#30
post #20

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.

A higher quality and more consistent product means there's a larger window of time for getting them treatment. If the quality situation ends up like it is in the U.S. now, you end up with a much more lethal product and a huge rate of overdose deaths.
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