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From: mwg@petrus.UUCP (Mark Garrett)
Newsgroups: net.internat,net.legal,net.med
Subject: Re: Where are drugs (opiates) legal?
Message-ID: <27@petrus.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 19-Feb-86 10:08:34 EST
Article-I.D.: petrus.27
Posted: Wed Feb 19 10:08:34 1986
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++
>      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