Comment by standardUser | Hacker News Reader

Comment by standardUser | Hacker News Reader

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I wouldn't mind having access to codeine because it is a very effective painkiller compared to OTC stuff in the US. I also don't mind not having access because I find the addictive potential of opioids personally threatening.

None of that matters to heroin users or users of more powerful prescription opioids because codeine will not give them the high they want. A better model would be something along the lines of marijuana dispensaries or state-run liquor stores, where legal sales can be made but with added levels of difficulty/obscurity. That kind of rigid legalization scheme probably wouldn't kill the black market, but it would absolutely save lives. Many people who are dead today would still be alive if they could have simply purchased a safe version of the drug they were going to do either way.

Have you heard of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metamizole ?

Widely used outside the US, but illegal to prescribe here. But you can own it here as long as you are not prescribing it. It's not as potent as an opioid, but it's a step up from the OTC stuff. I often buy it when traveling abroad (a bottle costs less than a dollar in Latin America) and my family has used it for years as millions of people abroad. There are concerns with safety, but according to plenty of foreign research, these risks are comparable to other, widely used medicine, and are based on outdated results.

This medicine is so cheap it wouldn't be profitable to do new trials in the US, thus we will likely not see this sold here anytime soon.

Anyway, this is not medical advice!

It’s my understanding that a similar compound known as dihydrocodeine (DHC) is sold OTC in some European countries, and is abused in a similar manner to how dextromethorphan (DXM) is abused in the US.

co-codamol is available in the UK over the counter which is a mix or paracetamol (acetaminophen) and codeine. It's not abused that much as i'm aware as you'd need to take enough for the paracetamol to do yourself serious harm in order to get high).

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