They are not "legal and regulated" for recreational use.
Furthermore, some argue that even medical use is over-regulated, to the point that people with genuine needs for them are being denied them by doctors who have become overly hesitant to prescribe them out of fear of the regulators. (Of course, if these claims of excessive prescriber hesitancy are true, that hesitancy itself is not a cause of the "opioid crisis", maybe rather a consequence of it; instead, that hesitancy would be a contributor to the "pain crisis" which has been with us since the dawn of time.)
One thing I personally find shocking - in a number of Australian states (and I believe the same is true in some US states), terminally ill people in severe pain can legally request assisted suicide – and yet, they can't legally have diamorphine (heroin) as a pain treatment, despite evidence that in some cases it is actually a superior pain treatment to any other opioid available.
Claims made by government agencies in some countries (such as the US or Australia) that diamorphine has "no legitimate use in medical treatment" are simply falsehoods. In some cases, it is the best clinical option. Those cases may be relatively rare, but they aren't non-existent, and to continue with an absolute ban on its clinical use (despite the fact that other jurisdictions, such as the UK, use it clinically with no major issues) is totally unjustifiable
skissane|3 years ago
Furthermore, some argue that even medical use is over-regulated, to the point that people with genuine needs for them are being denied them by doctors who have become overly hesitant to prescribe them out of fear of the regulators. (Of course, if these claims of excessive prescriber hesitancy are true, that hesitancy itself is not a cause of the "opioid crisis", maybe rather a consequence of it; instead, that hesitancy would be a contributor to the "pain crisis" which has been with us since the dawn of time.)
One thing I personally find shocking - in a number of Australian states (and I believe the same is true in some US states), terminally ill people in severe pain can legally request assisted suicide – and yet, they can't legally have diamorphine (heroin) as a pain treatment, despite evidence that in some cases it is actually a superior pain treatment to any other opioid available.
Claims made by government agencies in some countries (such as the US or Australia) that diamorphine has "no legitimate use in medical treatment" are simply falsehoods. In some cases, it is the best clinical option. Those cases may be relatively rare, but they aren't non-existent, and to continue with an absolute ban on its clinical use (despite the fact that other jurisdictions, such as the UK, use it clinically with no major issues) is totally unjustifiable