john@proper.UUCP (john) (02/17/86)
Does anybody out there know of any countries where the use of opiates
and/or other drugs for personal or recreational purposes is legal? I'm most
interested in places where there are *no* restrictions, but I'd also like to
hear about places where there are just fewer restrictions than there are in
the U.S.
If you do know of anywhere, do you have any information on things like
rates of addiction, negative effects of drug use on the lives of citizens
(especially as compared to effects in countries where the drugs are illegal),
overall satisfaction with the legal status of drugs, and so forth?
John Bashinski
{dual,amdahl,qantel}!proper!johnmwg@petrus.UUCP (Mark Garrett) (02/19/86)
++ > Does anybody out there know of any countries where the use of opiates > and/or other drugs for personal or recreational purposes is legal? > John Bashinski In India there are holy men (people? - I didn't see any women doing this) who generally wear saffron colored robes and roam around the country in search of enlightenment. They don't own anything and must beg for their food etc. Some of them use optiates (and maybe other drugs) in the process and this is socially accepted. There are also many westerners or former westerners - literally leftover hippies - who have discarded their visas and passports to do the same thing (although I would guess their rate of enlightenment is somewhat lower). It is relatively easy to get drugs there. I don't know if they are technically illegal, but Indian society generally frowns upon drug use among its own people and doesn't care much what the others do. There is one holiday in the winter though, (something to do with colors, I forget the name) which includes the use of bhang, which I've heard is pretty potent stuff. A few years ago some friends of mine were in Agra. When they stopped for a lassi (a drink made from yogert), one of them got the 'special lassi' because it only cost an extra nickel (american). After some time he thought he was getting sun stroke because he was so dizzy. When he went to lie down, the other guy went back to the store to find that the special lassi was special because it has bhang in it. Jim was releived to find out it was only drugs. -Mark Garrett
avinash@ubvax.UUCP (Avinash Marathe) (02/22/86)
In article <27@petrus.UUCP> mwg@petrus.UUCP (Mark Garrett) writes: >++ >(something to do with colors, I forget the name) which includes the use >of bhang, which I've heard is pretty potent stuff. > >-Mark Garrett "Bhang" is nothing but leaves of the marijuana plant ground into a paste. It is consumed either straight in the form of small balls or mixed in drinks (milk, buttermilk, etc). Yes it is potent. Avinash Marathe {ihnp4,allegra,decwrl}!amd!ubvax!avinash
tedrick@ernie.berkeley.edu.BERKELEY.EDU (Tom Tedrick) (02/27/86)
In article <156@proper.UUCP> john@proper.UUCP (john) writes: > > Does anybody out there know of any countries where the use of opiates >and/or other drugs for personal or recreational purposes is legal? I'm most >interested in places where there are *no* restrictions, but I'd also like to >hear about places where there are just fewer restrictions than there are in >the U.S. > > If you do know of anywhere, do you have any information on things like >rates of addiction, negative effects of drug use on the lives of citizens >(especially as compared to effects in countries where the drugs are illegal), >overall satisfaction with the legal status of drugs, and so forth? > > John Bashinski > {dual,amdahl,qantel}!proper!john This may not be exactly the information you are looking for, but ... I had an Indian girlfriend a few years ago. When we were in India, they would stock up on all kinds of legal over the counter drugs which aren't available in the USA, and bring suitcases full of the stuff back here (don't ask me why customs let them get away with it. I watched as the suitcases went through inspection.) There are all kinds of things you can get there that aren't available here. I remember one drug called "Baralgin" or something like that (made by Hoffmann-LaRouche, I seem to recall) that was really potent for getting rid of headaches. My girlfriend was dependent on (probably addicted to) the stuff. Anyway, I think there are lots of drugs available in other countries that aren't available here, but it would be an enormous amount of work to find out about them.
tedrick@ernie.berkeley.edu.BERKELEY.EDU (Tom Tedrick) (02/27/86)
>> Does anybody out there know of any countries where the use of opiates >> and/or other drugs for personal or recreational purposes is legal? >> John Bashinski > >In India there are holy men (people? - I didn't see any women doing this) >who generally wear saffron colored robes and roam around the country in >search of enlightenment. They don't own anything and must beg for their >food etc. Some of them use optiates (and maybe other drugs) in the process >and this is socially accepted. There are also many westerners or former >westerners - literally leftover hippies - who have discarded their >visas and passports to do the same thing (although I would guess their >rate of enlightenment is somewhat lower). It is relatively easy to get >drugs there. I don't know if they are technically illegal, but Indian >society generally frowns upon drug use among its own people and doesn't >care much what the others do. There is one holiday in the winter though, >(something to do with colors, I forget the name) which includes the use >of bhang, which I've heard is pretty potent stuff. > >A few years ago some friends of mine were in Agra. When they stopped >for a lassi (a drink made from yogert), one of them got the 'special >lassi' because it only cost an extra nickel (american). After some time >he thought he was getting sun stroke because he was so dizzy. When he >went to lie down, the other guy went back to the store to find that the >special lassi was special because it has bhang in it. Jim was releived to >find out it was only drugs. > >-Mark Garrett That reminded me: there are a couple drugs that seem to be widely used in India that I tried when I was there. One is betel nut, I think. After dinner they pass a box of this stuff around, and everyone takes some. Supposedly it is for digestion only, but I got stoned from it. Also they sell some stuff wrapped in a green leaf on the street (maybe its betel leaf). I tried some once and it was quite potent. Really made my head ring. The Indian coffee is probably the strongest drug of all :-)
ken@rochester.UUCP (Ipse dixit) (02/28/86)
>Anyway, I think there are lots of drugs available in other >countries that aren't available here, but it would be an >enormous amount of work to find out about them. (-: Including Tylenol cyanide? :-) Sorry, couldn't resist. Can we go back to arguing about char sets? I think this stuff doesn't belong in net.internat. Ken -- UUCP: ..!{allegra,decvax,seismo}!rochester!ken ARPA: ken@rochester.arpa Snail: Comp. of Disp. Sci., U. of Roch., NY 14627. Voice: Ken!