I purchased an over the counter bottle of formula from a health store called "Smoke Out" that is suppose to fight the cravings for cigarettes and the print indicates that opium is one of the main ingredients, I thought general use of opium is illegal.
Opium based products or derivatives are narcotics, and illegal to consume, distribute or otherwise possess without a medical prescription. I can't believe you purchased that over the counter, unless it was at a drug dealer's kitchen counter. I would guess it doesn't have it in it, or someone is selling something illegal.
You must be mistaken. Opium use without a prescription is illegal. Some people make their own opium from home-grown poppies - that can get you life in prison.
Opium has done horrible things to addicts. It ruins life. Lortab, for example, has numerous side effects, including addiction. Morphine and other such drugs should be a last resort for extreme pain say like when one is on a death bed. recreational use of Opium products is immoral and poisonous.
It is illegal to buy any medications that contain opium OTC in the U.S. That stuff probably doesn't have opium in it.
I've never really understood the illgality of opium. I know it can damage a person. But the fact of the matter is many of us take in opium without a care in the world. How many of us eat bagels with those little poppy seeds on them. Or how about those hamburger rolls that have poppy seeds on them. It's illegal in most cases but we literally eat them on a normal basis.
In which country did you buy this product? It's certainly illegal in the UK and in the majority of countries in the world, I presume.
Not only is it legal to buy OTC anywhere. They will let people in India, Austalia, and Turkey grow it to study the medicinal possibilities. Laudanum, however, is legal as a class A narcotic in UK, and schedule II in US. It's an opium tincture. It contains about 10 % powdered opium, which is the equivalent of 1% morphine