There has been a lot of excellent progress made in creating drugs to treat neuropathic and other types chronic pain. A lot of these drugs simulate neuropeptides using non-standard amino acids or small molecule analogs. Being able to molecularly control the pain and pleasure sensors could lead break through therapies for people living with crippling and uncontrolable pain, but it will also lead to drugs that would make heroin look like Tic Tacs. Of course the FDA would never approve such drugs or would tightly control them. But there will be lots of failures, and once the research is done it can never be undone. High end dealers and rogue “organizations” can download the patents or buy the information from disgruntled scientists about compounds failed in Phase II and III for being addictive or overly narcotic. Then synthesize and market them possibility legally in countries without strong drug laws and illegally in countries that do. Imagine the social consequences of a pill that can leave you lucid-ish but feeling no pain, or a pill that can let you stay up and alert for days at a time.
If you doubt this could happen, read about heroin’s history. I am not saying we shouldn't continue this work since it is too important, we should just be careful.
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