Arguably the two most useful drugs in existence are natural ones- cannabis for mood enhancement and pain relief and opium for pain that cannabis cannot help. And yet both of these things are illegal in "civilised society", while the 2 deadliest drugs, cigarettes and alcohol, are freely available.
Opium is said to be too addictive to make legal but that is treating adults like children. And there's no rational reason for cannabis to be illegal, except for protection of the various legal drug monopolies.
The opioid crisis in America is primarily due to the use of strong synthetic opioids, like fentanyl, that can kill an unsuspecting user and the need for many patients dependent on opioids to have to source them illegally, where quality and strength cannot be guaranteed and overdose is likely.
Generally, safer opioids can be used for an extended period of time with minimal side effects, although their use is generally for short-term strong pain, but they are also used for chronic pain, particularly in the elderly, and help enable them to sleep and regenerate without resorting to dangerous sedatives such as benzodiazepines and over the counter antihistamines.
Tribes throughout the world grow cannabis and opium for the use of members of the tribe who need them because of their incredible medical powers.
But in the west we must beg a doctor for a drug to help us and often they don't listen to the patient and prescribe something they like which is synthetic, with far more adverse effects than the natural substances mentioned.
These synthetic drugs are thought to be safe and non-addictive, but the reality is many of them result in physical dependence, making coming off them difficult and painful.
And in a large proportion of cases they just don't work. So the patient must often go on and off multiple drugs in the hope of finding one that helps. Meanwhile often experiencing terrible side effects from the drugs they are trialling.
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