Posted by PeaceLove
a resident of Shoreline West
on Feb 6, 2017 at 2:55 pm
PeaceLove is a registered user.

Can we end the war on plants and their users once and for all? Opium is a medicinal plant that has been used for over 5000 years, and all humans should have the right to use whatever plant they want. Just because a substance has the potential for abuse doesn't mean we should ban it. If it did, we would have to ban sugary drinks, cigarettes and booze.

America is called "the Land of the Free" but how free can we be if we can be put in jail for using a medicinal plant?

I have known people who grew and used their own opium and found it a wonderfully relaxing tea. Yes, it can be highly addictive if used regularly. But the biggest addiction risk is from the highly processed forms of opium sold by the pharmaceutical industry in the form of pain pills like Oxycontin and Vicodin -- pills which are chemically very similar to heroin.

Indeed, it is likely the main reason the natural plant form of opium remains illegal is because the pharmaceutical industry makes *billions* of dollars selling pain pills, including millions of addicts. Americans consume 80% of all opiate pain pills, and 15,000 people die every year from opiate pill addiction. Web Link