Opium Should be Legalized

Thank you CloudApex, 1"A "cousin" is a thing related or analogous to another. In this case morphine and opium are associative cousins, NOT directly correlated items. They are related to each other in the sense that they are both drugs that are exercised for the purposes of mitigating physical pain and irritation - they are applied with similar objectives in mind, for instance, to increase euphoria, create pleasure and block unpleasant memories. " My opponent claims that "opium" (by which I assume he is referring specifically to the raw latex that secretes from gashes in opium poppies) and morphine, are used to produce the same effects, euphoria, pleasure, mitigating pain, etc. All recreational drugs are used for these effects. The relationship between morphine and raw opium is not just that they are both recreational drugs. MORPHINE IS MADE FROM OPIUM POPPIES. THAT IS A DIRECT CORRELATION. 2"According to. .. morphine is a derived opioid" This means that it is made from the opium poppy. 3""such as oxycodone, hydromorphone, and diacetylmorphine (heroin). An opioid is an opiumlike compound"" Opium is not a chemical. It is not a compound. Opium is the name that humans have applied to a substance that contains many different chemicals. Saying that a compound is "opiumlike" is like saying a compound is "cinnamon-like. " I think what my opponent means to say is that drugs classified as opioids get their active ingredients from the opium poppy. Again, opium is a substance, a substance that contains many psychoactive chemicals. Oxycodone, hydrocodone, morphine, vicoden, heroin, codeine, and opana are drugs that are refined from opium poppy latex to contain high amounts of one of these chemicals. [1] I would also like to remind my opponent that taking segments of his sources verbatim without using proper quotation marks is plagiarism. 4"Merriam Webster: "possessing some properties characteristic of opiate narcotics but not derived from opium" Dictionary. com has a slightly different definition. [2] Furthermore, there is absolutely no question that morphine and heroin are "derived from opium. " EVERY GRAM OF MORPHINE THAT HAS EVER BEEN PRODUCED HAS BEEN MADE FROM THE OPIUM POPPY. Heroin is then made from morphine. [10] 5"I'd like to emphasize the fact that it is "opiumlike" and does NOT have the fundamentally identical chemical constitution to that of recreational opium" Ergo, I do not have to address laudanum, an opioid. " False. The active ingredient in laudanum and morphine (morphine) is exactly as it is found in the opium poppy. 6"Morphine is clinically legal, but only with prescription from a trained physician. There is near nil paperwork implicated in prescribing an opiate medication for a patient" First, in the busy medical profession, "near nil paperwork" is not to be conflated with no paperwork. Also, the fact that people need a physician"s prescription to receive a medication adds layers of unnecessary logistics to its use. Third, recent experience with marijuana indicates the medical effects of criminalizing a drug. Medical marijuana was legal in 19 states before it was made completely legal in 2. [3] But it is only now that it is completely legal there that some medical uses are coming to light. [4] 7"My opponent claims that opium was not legalized in the 19th century. This is de facto incorrect, referencing back to the reliable source that I had posted in the previous round" My opponent"s source states that "Medicinal opiates were freely available in the United States and Europe in the 19th cent. " It does not say that opium was legalized in the 19th century because that would be incorrect. No, opium was not legalized in the 19th century. It has never been legalized. It was made illegal in the 20th century. [5] [6] [7] [14] 8"The opium-dependent bourgeoisie that I had referred to in the previous round are no longer able-bodied citizens after overindulging and binging on opium and its derivatives. They are permanently hooked on this substance and will be musing about consuming the drug during every second available to them. " This is a baseless claim. My opponent posits this as a universal claim, but it is clearly refuted by the cases of Wilkie Collins, Hector Berlioz, Thomas De Quincy, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Keats, and Jean Cocteau. [15] 9"They lose absolute functionality. .. will recklessly spend all of their money to obtain the drug, or even push themselves to physical limits to embezzle it. " As explained previously, this problem is almost entirely eliminated when drugs are legal and cheap. When this was the case, drug related violence and other drug related crimes were relatively rare. [6] 10" After critics have analysed (sic) the publication long after his burial and death, they have deemed the quality of his writing incomparable (in a negative way) to the previous novels" The wikipedia page my opponent cited does not say that critics have found The Moonstone of a lower quality than his other novels. What this source actually says is "The Moonstone remains one of Collins's most critically acclaimed productions. " [8] In fact, The Moonstone is generally considered a masterpiece, as well as the first detective novel. [9] 11The chemical makeup of heroin is slightly changed by the refining process just as baking soda in crack slightly changes the chemical makeup of cocaine. Again, every ounce of heroin that has ever been made is made from the latex of the opium poppy. (So called synthetic heroin is actually drugs that mimic the effects of heroin but do not contain any opium) [10] 12"I'd like to refute this statement by enforcing the fact that opium, morphine and heroin are all not party drugs and are exclusively low-profile, uncharacteristic drugs. " Actually heroin is the third most popular drug in the United States. [11] Morally Wrong My opponent suggests that the government can justifiably threaten drug users in order to catch dealers. He has still not addressed why it is any more acceptable to arrest (kidnap) and imprison drug dealers than it would be to arrest (kidnap) and imprison someone for playing football or drinking alcohol. Threat to National Security 1""Illicit opium production, now dominated by Afghanistan, was decimated in 2000, when production was banned by the Taliban, but has increased steadily since " 2001" Worldwide production in 2006 was" one-fifth the level of production in 1906. " "the production levels have increased exponentially. " Of course, opium production is lower than it was in1906, the last year of massive British opium cultivation in India. As my opponent says, opium "production levels have increased exponentially" since the ban was rescinded. [12] The Taliban run profit enormously from the growing opium trade. 2When the supply of a product is reduced the price increases. Thus, when U. S. police destroy opium fields, the price of opium rises. U. S. police do not patrol in places friendly to the Taliban. This means that opium farmers in the areas friendly to the Taliban do not have their fields destroyed, and benefit from the higher price of opium. The Taliban, as the middle man in those areas that are friendly to it, benefit as well. **Claiming that morphine is not opium is like claiming that hash is not marijuana. However, this doesn"t really matter. I specifically mentioned morphine and heroin in my opening statement. If my opponent did not wish to debate the legalization of morphine and heroin, he should not have accepted this debate. **But furthermore, even if my opponent continues to deny that morphine and heroin are opium, his arguments are not valid. He has thus far argued that legalization of raw opium may have benefits, but it is a "small time" drug. This argument is ridiculous. If legalizing raw opium has any benefits at all then it should be legalized.