Bring Back Opium Parlors

I'm all for ending the "drug war," and I support the Drug Policy Alliance. But what would legalization look like? In discussions with friends, I have argued for letting physicians prescribe addictive drugs, but that could drive the cost of medical care through the roof, in spite of savings from resulting reduction in overdoses, needle-transmitted infections and other harms.

I often hark back to the opium dens of old, and think of their similarity to present day hookah lounges. Had we never outlawed opium dens, we might never have moved to the disastrous black markets in heroin and fentanyl. Opium is natural and arguably safer than even prescription opioids, probably much harder to overdose with. We could grow opium poppies here in America. We may not know the ultimate adverse health effects, but could opium kill any more people than legal nicotine or alcohol?

Regulated, legal opium parlors could provide FDA approved opium preparations in standardized doses. They might have medical personnel and naloxone (maybe even buprenorphine?) on site. Supervison by staff would make for greater safety and avoidance of overdose.

Let's give consideration to opium dens as part of any move toward legalization of opioids.

Berry Edwards, MD