In a lot of cases though, the further away you move from 'natural', the more damaging the drug.
Cocaine actually comes from coca, not cocoa. They are completely different plants.
Chewing coca leaves is a mild stimulant - not very harmful.
Refine the leaves into cocaine - more addictive and more harmful.
Wash that cocaine and produce crack - even more addictive and even more harmful.
Similarly with poppies - opium is the natural and less refined form of the drug and not as harmful or addictive as heroin, which is more refined and less 'natural'.
The same applies to food when you think about it - fresh, raw vegetables are healthy and the further away from 'natural' we make it, through refining/processing, the less healthy and more damaging it gets.
I've had insomnia and in my experience, natural solutions are better.
In the past, my lifestyle has been healthy at times and very unhealthy at others. I have been a dirty rotten caner, was a vegetarian for almost a decade when I was younger and have been very fit at times (cycling, serious swimming, lifeguard, etc.) and very unfit at others (sedentary, shite food, lots of partying).
I have always slept better when I have had a healthier lifestyle. I've moved into a permanently healthier lifestyle in the last few years with lots of exercise and a seriously healthy diet and I've never slept better.
Having said that, just because it works for me, does not mean I think it will work for everyone - insomnia has many causes and therefore will involve many solutions - I'm just fortunate that diet and exercise works for me.
I would definitely recommend trying the diet and exercise solution before the medication solution though.
Well first, let's just clarify that insomnia is not a disorder but a symptom of underlying disorders. I'm a strong advocate of eating healthy and working out, went 5 years not taking any substance whatsoever, eating the most pristine diet / working out but still had terrible insomnia.
There are people with all sorts of underlying medical conditions where eating healthy & working out won't fix it. It will sure as hell help, but it's not a cure all.
Second, I whole heartedly disagree with "opium is not as dangerous or addictive as heroin".
I don't say this proudly. But I've been addicted to enough drugs, been to rehab / NA more than enough times to know that most heroin addicts would prefer to withdraw off >>heroin rather than methadone, suboxone or opium any day of the week.
I also know for opiate virgins, swallowing a cup of poppy (opium) tea will give you the same exact high and rush that heroin does. You will nod out just like you're own heroin. But it's far worse in the respect that the high from opium lasts 10-12 times as long as heroin does. Which means withdrawals last equally as long. While heroin takes 2-3 days for the worst of withdrawals to subside, opium withdrawals are ruthless, lasting 3-4 weeks before wds subside.
What's worse, you're not just withdrawing from the morphine in the poppies but the codiene, thebaine, benziquinones and 40+ other alkaloids in poppies.
Heroin is more addictive in the sense that it's refined like you said. So it's more consistent and you can shoot it if one is dumb enough to do so. But heroin is essentially just 2 morphine molecules stacked on top each other. Hence the name "diamorphine". Opium's got the same morphine molecules that heroins got, yes it's missing the second branch, but the 40+ other alkaloids more than make up for that. Opium is some very powerful shit.
And all I'm really saying.... when it comes to drugs I see absolutely
no difference between the words "natural" and "synthetic".
Kratom is just as natural as anything (also legal in the US) and it's a very addictive tea. Withdrawals are a mfkr. Yet tons of people are buying the shit legally online and getting a high like hydrocodone gives you.
The way I see it, it's all just chemistry. They are all just chemicals. Yes, it winds up that many people wind up abusing synthetic drugs. But there are far more synthetic drugs available than natural. In the late 1800's, a lot of people were drinking morphine syrup like it was alcohol. Now and days we have the "luxury" of pain killers like Fentanyl that are 100 times stronger than morphine or 40-50 times as strong as heroin (in terms of pain management). So a soldier steps on an IED and screams for the Fentanyl rather than the morphine. But most opiate users aren't using the stronger synthetic opiates like fentanyl... they're using heroin or oxycodone which are very weak compared to what's available. Mainly cause of economics.
Drugs will always get into the hands of ignorant mfkrs who will OD or ruin their lives over that shit. But does it really matter if its 300mg of morphine, 150mg of heroin, 300mcg of fentanyl .... 4 cups of kratom a day, or even 2 pints of vodka? Does it matter if its 3 bumps of cocaine in a pipe or 1 crumb sized rock of crack? Crack is more refined but smoking either will blast you off into space.
Finally, it's synthetic drugs, not natural, that have substantially extended the life of man (just throwing that in to consider).
I did't intend to turn this thread into a synthetic vs natural drug debate so let me make 1 last recommendation for the OP.
If you really wanna keep it "natural", as in put a chemical in your body that comes from a leaf rather than a test tube, there is 1 tea I use to take that I highly recommend. Most naturals like to recommend melatonin, kava or valerian root, but I've experimented with many ethnobotanicals and passion flower was the only one that had an immediate, clean, strong, and sedative effect.
The problem with passion flower is it's almost harder to find a good supplier than it is to find a supplier for weed.
Any passion flower that comes in a bottle is shit. It's underdosed, stale or the wrong strain altogether. So don't use GNC, Vitamine Shoppe or any health store that sells it in the bottle. The guy I was using was from ebay. Don't remember his name but you need to buy FRESHLY HARVESTED leaves. You need to read the feedback. I think I had to test like 6 different suppliers before I found a guy who was selling the real deal passion flower.
Order small samples from a bunch of people. If you find a good supplier then order this stuff in bulk. Like 3-5lbs worth.
1/2 cup - 1 cup of leaves strained in hot water will knock you on your ass and to me it felt exactly like valium. Except I had no side effects or withdrawls. No groggy feeling in the morning. No rebound while you're sleeping. And the tea actually tastes sweet and good. You will know you got a good batch about 20 minutes after drinking it. High quality passion flower at the right dose will make it almost impossible to stay awake. Your eyes get heavy, your whole body feels sedated, it's a very clean feeling and you will want to go to bed immediately.
The only reason I stopped taking that stuff is cause I got on suboxone which overpowers any natural remedies. But if you have no drugs in your system high quality passion flower will knock you right on your ass.
Good luck.
-BB
