3 replies »

  1. The idea that legalizing and licensing opium in Afghanistan will decrease the illegal opium trade is fantasy.
    Medical morphine sulphate is cheap – far cheaper than the far less effective modern concoctions of Big Pharma.
    Why would any opium farmer sell his crop cheaply to legitimate buyers, when he can get orders of magnitude higher prices from the black market?
    So, if we go with a social libertarian policy, and decriminalize recreational opium use, how will we deal with the medical and social problems of the vastly increased numbers of users? We seem to have trouble paying for medical care now. How will we pay for care for millions of unemployed, uninsured addicts? Will we end up like China after the Opium Wars?
    Harvey