
Bill to Legalize Marijuana and Opium Cleared for Indian Parliament (2016) - unmole
https://www.lawyered.in/legal-disrupt/articles/bill-legalize-marijuana-parliament/
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meri_dian
I wouldn't be so quick to label Opium legalization as 'progressive'. The
Chinese experience with Opium in the 1800's was terrible and very damaging to
their society.

The nature of opiates is that they are very addictive addicted. Drug addiction
is incredibly difficult to shake once it has taken hold. The way to deal with
opiates is to never allow someone to become addicted in the first place.

It's time for us to realize that the global opiate crisis is occurring
precisely because opiates are more available now than they ever have been. I
love Western culture, but its prioritization of instant gratification can be
myopic.

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bbatha
> The Chinese experience with Opium in the 1800's was terrible and very
> damaging to their society.

To play devil's advocate, China had loads of Opium pumped in by the British to
pay for their tea debts. The British countered any attempt to regulate it, so
they could keep their markets open. Opium is a dangerous substance, but I'd be
interested to see what a well regulated opium market looks like. Unrefined
opium is in the same ballpark as alcohol for addicitiveness.

~~~
meri_dian
How does regulation decrease the addictiveness though? Every one of my friends
who has become addicted to opiates got started with legal, regulated
prescription drugs.

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libertyEQ
We have a serious problem when we conflate plant material with synthesized,
concentrated compounds. People call their pills "medication" and the 4 plants
I grow every summer in my backyard "drugs."

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opportune
Yet those same plants contain psychoactive drugs just as those pills do. I am
all for drug decriminalization/legalization but this is seriously a stupid
argument. There's no logical consistency in treating a drug differently just
because you can grow it.

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sgrove
I _think_ the argument is more around the potency of a thing (although plant
strains can become very potent as well). Just like naturally fermented berries
have a different effect compared to distilled spirits.

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opportune
That makes more sense, although I would wager the parent probably doesn't have
anything against LSD or THC concentrate.

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libertyEQ
That sounds like you are making an unfair assumption about my beliefs and my
understanding is that we are supposed to be charitable in our assumptions for
the benefit of discussion on HN. I made the distinction about lab synthesis
(i.e. LSD) and plant material (i.e. marijuana). Now you have erected a straw
man on my behalf where I can't tell the difference between purified plant
material, raw plant material, and synthesized compounds. is that your intent?

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jacob019
The article clearly articulates what I've been thinking for years. It is so
sad how many lives are ruined for nothing by the immoral and draconian drug
laws.

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Bhilai
The current BJP government holds absolute majority in the parliament and the
prevailing feeling is that the government is very regressive to say the least.
I'd be very surprised if this bill ever gets passed.

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praneshp
Needs [2016]

(and maybe "neeeever gonna happen".)

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JumpCrisscross
This is a bill introduced over a year ago by a minority party to Parliament.
Its legislative weight is maybe a notch above than that of an op-ed.

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brudgers
Linked article at _Hindustan Times_ ,
[http://www.hindustantimes.com/punjab/aap-mp-gandhi-s-bill-
se...](http://www.hindustantimes.com/punjab/aap-mp-gandhi-s-bill-seeking-
opium-legalisation-cleared-for-tabling-in-parliament/story-
itanKX3vRrhuXJPdgnJD6N.html)

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sandGorgon
This is a private bill introduced by the Aam Aadmi Party. Let's see what
happens to it, but kudos for the attempt!

~~~
arkades
What is the difference between a private and non-private bill?

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maskedinvader
private member bill is a bill tabled by any member of parliament (known as MP
in India) who is not a part of a executive branch or part of the cabinet of
the ruling govt

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duxup
Considering the opioid experience here in the US and the science showing how
incredibly addictive it is, even after a few days use ... I find the opium
legalization an odd choice.

Marijuana fine by me. Opium, that sounds like it could be terrible.

~~~
kikoreis
Legalization efforts of hard drugs are not really efforts to stimulate drug
use; rather they are intended to make visible addiction which is typically
hidden underground. Marijuana is a bit of an odd case as it is generally
considered harmless; there's an argument it never should have been illegal in
the first place.

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Castle9
this is one year old article?

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modi15
Marijuana use is widespread already. You can get passively high just by
sitting outside one of the temples in himalayan india. Not too sure what this
will change.

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chimeracoder
> Marijuana use is widespread already. You can get passively high just by
> sitting outside one of the temples in himalayan india. Not too sure what
> this will change.

You can say the same thing about large parts of the US, but that doesn't mean
there aren't incredibly strong reasons to formally legalizing it.

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billmalarky
Is this "legalization" or more like "decriminalization"?

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freedomben
Legalization.

> this bill aims to legalize and start regulated supply of traditional
> intoxicants such as opium and marijuana (cannabis) as ‘soft drugs’ in India.

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billmalarky
Thanks for answering. I read that line but wasn't entirely sure if "soft drug"
meant full legal recreational or prescription only etc.

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ecthiender
This news is from 2016 though.

So what happened? Does anybody know?

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mikestew
Kind of curious about that myself. All I can find is that is was cleared to go
before Parliament November 2016, and there hasn't been a news story I can find
since.

