Opioid prohibition is destined to fail

Prohibitions in this country don’t tend to stick. There is good reason for that. Humans want to be free to choose what to consume. Governments, do-gooders, and doctors will never change that.

Alcohol prohibition sparked the current War on Choice that we are currently suffering under. The campaign was puritanical in nature and the “social costs” of alcohol were frequently bandied about as a reason to ban it. But like all government interventions the Prohibition of Alcohol was a colossal failure. Instead of increasing morality in society it increased real crime.

Gangsters through violence became powerful and wealthy during Alcohol Prohibition. Governments grew more powerful as well. But the people got sick of the violence and the encroachment of Government into their lives and it was overturned.

But the philosophy and profits of prohibition were so appealing to those in power it would soon return. Once Alcohol Prohibition was gone the good people at the Bureau of Prohibition didn’t have anything to fight.

Henry Anslinger the head of the Bureau of Prohibition was determined to find a new target. It didn’t take him long to turn the puritanical racial attitudes that fueled the push to make alcohol illegal towards an evil weed, Marijuana.

Interestingly while Anslinger and The Bureau of Prohibition were busy busting up speakeasies he said that Cannabis didn’t harm people and didn’t make them violent. He changed his tune when his Department was axed. He became the head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and was instrumental in getting Marijuana Prohibition established at the Federal level.

Thanks to Anslinger’s lies about the health risks of Marijuana and the dubious anecdotes he collected, Reefer Madness swept the nation. It was fueled by blatant racism and puritanical self righteousness that we still see echoes of in the current opioid crisis propaganda. But like all prohibitions, Marijuana Prohibition was destined to fail.

Unlike with Alcohol Prohibition, Marijuana Prohibition wasn’t ended at the Federal level. But it’s effectively over. Millions and millions of Americans have defied the Federal Government, rejected their lies and propaganda and continued to use Cannabis despite Federal Prohibition for over seventy years.

We live in an era where the people have defied the Federal Government and won. Eight States have fully legalized Marijuana and another 21 have some form of a Medical Marijuana programs even though the DEA still has it as a Schedule I drug.

From their website:

Schedule I drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Some examples of Schedule I drugs are:

heroin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), marijuana (cannabis), 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (ecstasy), methaqualone, and peyote

People have seen through the lies of the government and the philanthropic tyrants. Cannabis is safe and extremely effective for millions of people for a myriad of health issues and for improving well-being. The health benefits are astounding and more and more are being discovered all the time.

The current opioid crisis is the latest in a long line of hysterias that have swept this country based on government propaganda and spread by a compliant media. Alcohol and Marijuana proceeded it and have been overturned completely at the Federal level or by defiance at the local level. Opioids will be no different in the coming years.

Millions of people safely use pain pills everyday to help ease their suffering. The current hysteria has all the hallmarks of the classic prohibition manias of the past. There is a strong moral disgust component, an us versus them mentality, and a healthy dose of ignorance thrown in.

Those who profit from prohibition are the ones pushing the opioid crisis hype as well as the philanthropic tyrants who believe they alone know how others should live. How sociopathic must a person be to tell someone who is in physical pain that they can’t have their pain relieved because there are a small percentage of people who may overdose on a similar type of medicine?

That makes absolutely no sense.

The two main problems cited as being the “opioid crisis” are deaths due to overdose and addiction.

The majority of the deaths are due to illicit fentanyl laced heroin caused in large part by the War on Drugs & the US governments complicity in growing, protecting & shipping Afghanistan poppies. Afghanistan became the number one grower of illicit poppies in the world after the US government invasion.

If the deaths aren’t due to bad heroin they are usually attributable to combination of drugs which are prescribed to someone else or illegal.

The second problem cites is the bogey man of addiction. This is the issue that sparks the puritanical self righteousness which fuels these types of hysterias. Those who are addicted are viewed as morally weak and depraved. And people live in fear of pain pills. It is almost as if pain pills are seen as demons who will possess anyone and cause them to do horrible things to get their “fix”.

This is totally irrational. In reality addiction has its basis in biology and not in demonology. Plus it’s extremely rare. Only about 2-3% of people have the predisposition for real addiction. In the near future we will be able to test for this and get those who need actual help instead of locking them up.

The answer proposed to the above two problems is to place draconian restrictions on opioids for people in pain. That’s the great answer from the enlightened elites. Make people suffer more. Brilliant!

Chronic pain patients aren’t overdosing on illicit heroin. That is unless they have had their pain pill allotment cut and they are still in pain. By further restricting access to prescription pain pills the government is forcing those in pain to look to the black market for relief.

Could they in fact be doing this on purpose to get more people buying Afghanistan Heroin?

And on top of the Opioid Prohibition currently taking shape the DEA wants to Schedule I Kratom. It’s a plant from Southeast Asia that has amazing properties that can help ease pain and eliminate opioid withdrawal symptoms. Plus it’s extremely safe despite the government propaganda to the contrary.

I myself have used it and it works. I’ve been in chronic pain for 30 years and have taken pain pills ever since. Unfortunately I’ve also had my supply cut do to this opioid insanity and I do run out before the end of the month depending on my pain level.

I’m not addicted but I am physically habituated to Narcotics like most people who’ve taken them for decades. Addiction and habituation are not the same. Now when I don’t have pain pills for 48 hours my body does react in a negative way.

It’s extremely unpleasant. Being in pain plus going through physical withdrawal is almost unbearable. Kratom takes away 80-90% of the terrible withdrawal symptoms and eases my pain as well. It’s so empowering to know I have an option if I run out of pain medicine or can’t get a prescription refilled. And of course the DEA hates this and wants to ban it.

More prohibition is not the answer. Making people suffer in pain is not the answer. If the DEA wanted to save tens of thousands of lives they would legalize heroin tomorrow and leave Kratom alone.

Prohibition is big business not only for the government but also for crony capitalists who reap huge profits by filling their prisons. The DEA, FDA, CDC have their budgets at stake. Local police departments rely on grants and civil asset forfeiture sharing with the DEA. Unions who represent law enforcement and prison workers want more people in prison. The private companies that now run government stocked prisons have contracts requiring that 90% or more of the cells have to be filled or they receive increased compensation to make up the difference. Rehab centers want more and more people in their facilities as well. Each arrest means profit for someone. Prohibition fills the pockets of politicians, prison owners, Union Leaders, and law enforcement.

Don’t forget that the media makes a ton off of this as well. Fear sells. False sense of security sells as well. It always has. Alcohol Prohibition and Marijuana Prohibition were accomplished with complicity of the media.

There are also profits that go unseen but are just as powerful a motivator that keeps Prohibition in place. Black Market profits are laundered through the largest banks in the world, the CIA uses them to fund their dark operations, bribes from them line the pockets of politicians, law enforcement officers and judges.

Prohibition accomplishes none of what it promises and never will. Crime, corruption and violence multiplies because of it. Anyone who talks of the “societal cost” of the opioid crisis doesn’t understand the cost of chronic pain, the cost of the prison system, the cost of the War on Drugs, the cost of compliance by doctors and pharmacies, the hours wasted by patients who are forced to go back to the doctor to get a physical prescription, the cost of mandatory drug testing for pain patients, the cost of the SWAT teams, and the cost of the people living in fear of a tyrannical government who is forcing them to live in pain or risk going to prison.

The current opioid hysteria is being used as a way to rebrand the War on Drugs and ensure the increased budgets of the DEA, DOJ, CDC and FDA. The War on Drugs is extremely unpopular and people are questioning if it should even be waged. The majority of people know that the powers that be were lying for decades about the dangers of Cannabis. Just like Harry Anslinger in the 1930’s needed a new target after the ending of Alcohol Prohibition the DEA needed to swing attention away from the failure of Marijuana Prohibition to a new target – enter the Opioid Crisis.

People want to be free to make their own choices. That will never change. Prohibition of any kind is a battle that can never be won. Look at drugs inside of prisons. The State can’t even keep them out of secure buildings that they have 100% control over.

That is why the opioid crisis propaganda is not focusing on illegal opioids. Instead the target is doctors and people in pain. The powers that be are issuing new restrictive guidelines for doctors to limit the prescribing of pain pills. It’s the same reason why cops give speeding tickets instead of going after known criminals. The criminals have guns and they payoff the cops. Everyday citizens caught “speeding” are easy pickings just like people in pain are.

The sick and suffering are being targeted because they are an easy target. Those sick and suffering don’t give up easy though. Opioids are effective and safe. People in pain shouldn’t be forced to suffer because of politicians colluding with bureaucrats, prison owners, and law enforcement unions to brand them as criminals because they seek the most effective tool to eliminate their pain which are opioids.

A backlash is occurring against Opioid Prohibition though and it will continue to grow in proportion to the degree its enforced. Make no mistake the government would love to outlaw all opioids. That would keep the prisons full, law enforcement budgets fat, and politicians pockets filled with bribes and kickbacks.

Opioid Prohibition is destine to end just as Alcohol and Marijuana Prohibition did. People will see through the lies of the do-gooders, the social reformers, the philanthropic tyrants, the government doctors, the corrupt politicians and the ambitious bureaucrats and will end it at the Federal level, at the local level or just ignore it. If there is demand there will always be supply.

The problem with the philosophy of prohibition is that it has no logical end. Everything you ingest causes some harm. The very air you breathe coupled with the food you eat is causing oxidative damage in your body that will eventually contribute to your death.

Will the prohibition pushers next target be food? Will we all be required to have a prescription for the food we buy? Why not? That would be inline with the philosophy of prohibition.

The societal cost of obesity, diabetes and heart disease are thousands of times more than the cost of individuals using opioids. Food plays an enormous role in these deadly and debilitating diseases. If the same logic for opioid prohibition is to be used to help the most people than it should be applied to all products with wheat and sugar, and vegetable oil in them. They all contribute to causing so called lifestyle diseases.

And all other foods would be by prescription only of course. They could be called food pyramid prescriptions. Only the enlightened elite know what’s best for us. Think of a supermarket that has all the food locked behind shelves. You have to present a government approved doctor written list of the foods you are allowed to buy. That is the future we are heading to if the do-gooders, the social planners, and the politicians continue with using prohibition as a means to restrict freedom for a nebulous purpose such as lowering “societal costs”.

If you think that could never happen go and try to buy Sudafed off the shelf. That’s right you can’t it’s locked up behind the counter and you have to show ID and sign for it. Remember how Meth was the biggest threat the United States ever faced back in 2005? Taking away your ability to buy Sudafed without being tracked didn’t have the results they were hoping for. Last year alone Americans bought about $13 billion worth of Meth.

The philosophy behind prohibition is truly evil and has no logical end. If societal costs are the only measure for the use of force against peaceful individuals than all behavior is on the table for possible prohibition. Driving, owning firearms, swimming, showering, or other “dangerous” activities could be next.

The social engineers are never satisfied. They think they can perfect society if only they can use the force of government to implement their utopian schemes. They blame every ill of society on individual freedom while they think the actions of the government are perfect or at worse haven’t gone far enough. In fact they clamor for more government action never less. They believe they are the enlightened and educated elite who have a duty to save the ignorant masses from themselves. Of course by doing so they gain power, prestige and money.

Prohibition is based upon the belief that individuals don’t own themselves and shouldn’t have a choice of what to ingest because it could have “societal costs”. And how do they propose to do this? By making criminals out of peaceful individuals.

Taking pain pills is not a crime against humanity. True crime is violence committed against a person or his property. Ingesting a pill doesn’t qualify as a crime. Limiting access to a drug that eases physical suffering is. Using the force of government to force people to endure pain is tantamount to torture. The personal cost of pain is infinitely more expensive than any so called societal cost can ever be.

Americans are the only nation in the history of the world founded on a revolutionary idea: that our rights come from our humanity and not from the state. This fire of freedom still burns brightly in the hearts of millions. Prohibition of Opioids will end by voting or by massive civil disobedience.

One possible peaceful way to effectively end Opioid Prohibition is for every person in chronic pain to grow their own poppy plants in their backyard or indoors under lights. (I of course don’t advocate breaking the law)

If there was (hypothetically of course) a peaceful movement that encouraged and helped everyone who wanted to control the means to ease their physical suffering; to grow poppy flowers, Opioid Prohibition would be impossible enforce.

Every backyard would have a few of these plants and every individual who chose to take control of easing his or her own physical pain, would have on hand the most effective mix of compounds humans have every discovered for eliminating pain, the sap of the poppy.

It was the underground Cannabis Cultivation culture that greatly helped end Marijuana Prohibition. In fact one day they were “illegal growers” and after legalization they were now “legal growers”. It can happen that fast.

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A powerful backyard pharmcacy could be created by growing poppy plants, different strains of Cannabis, and medicinal mushrooms including the magic kind. If you’ve ever grown your own food you know the amazing satisfaction and power you feel being able to feed yourself directly from your own effort. Now think what it will feel like when you can ease your physical suffering from the sap of a poppy plant you grow in your medicinal garden.

That my friend is how you fix healthcare. It’s with more freedom not less.

The poppy plant is a miracle of nature. It has eased the physical suffering of millions and millions of people. Very few ever become addicted and even less overdose on “legal” or “illegal” opioids. Humans have made choices about what to ingest long before the FDA, DEA or any other government agency existed. People and poppies go back thousands and thousands of years.

The backlash is coming. Governments could in the past get away with lying but no more. People are too informed and too connected through the internet. You can see groups banding together online because pain transcends artificial political boundaries.

Every individual has an innate right to consume what they choose and to be responsible for their actions. Pain pills aren’t a special class of property. They shouldn’t be locked behind a counter, you shouldn’t be required to obtain a prescription from a doctor to buy them and once you own them you should do with them what you choose.

Until we have true Medicinal Freedom in this country the less government intervention in the healthcare choices the better. Ending the War on people in pain is a great place to start.

Brad MILLER

Fellow Human