raw opium is addictive , but it ' s far less addictive than it ' s synthetic counterparts . That is debatable . Either way , addiction is addiction . And it is for each person to decide what they want to do with their body . You say there are less side effects , like what ? The new drugs are engineered to be target specific receptors , so that they are less likely to cause constipation and respiratory suppression and euphoria , which is one big reason people seek them out . If anything sythentic opioids tend to have significant more criminal side effects than raw opium . Criminal side effect are the result of these drugs being criminalized . If there were no laws against owning , buying , selling , these drugs , there would be very little criminal side effects . I ' m just saying that technically they are produced with their increasingly addictive qualities in mind . They are not produced to have addictive side effects . If anything the goal of the people who engineer these drugs is to get maximum pain relief with as few side effects , including addiction , as possible . Regardless of their addictive properties , it should be for me to decide what to do with my body , and not be punished for making choices someone else disagrees with , when those choices are not violent towards anyone .