this isn't how things are defined, though. these days, heroin is not necessarily the best opiate against opioids. we have more selective drugs that are better at targeting analgesia over euphoria. fentanyl and more euphoric options are generally used for high levels of pain, not routinely. and so diacetylmorphine has very few medical uses besides treating withdrawal, where methadone is a better option.
because it doesn't really have a legit medical use, it's schedule 1. marijuana, lsd, and psilocybin obviously no longer really fit these criteria, but heroin probably does.
with all that said, i'm generally against scheduling and think pharmaceutical and recreational drugs should be available over-the-counter.
sure, that's one alternative opinion. i am one of the biggest fda-haters you'll find but, in a vacuum, this call isn't really wrong. it can theoretically be used medically - but i'd be hard-pressed to think of why a doctor would use it now over other options. perhaps one can give some examples of cases where it was truly the only option.
I mean Fentanyl should be schedule 2, it has legitimate medical uses. That's why Cocaine and Methamphetamine are also schedule 2. Marijuana should probably be schedule 4 or 5, if not completely de-scheduled and regulated the same way Alcohol is, which is what a lot of recreational legalization states have done.
because it doesn't really have a legit medical use, it's schedule 1. marijuana, lsd, and psilocybin obviously no longer really fit these criteria, but heroin probably does.
with all that said, i'm generally against scheduling and think pharmaceutical and recreational drugs should be available over-the-counter.