That’s not true. Only about 13% of opioid addicts were ever prescribed these drugs by their doctors. Opioids are effective at certain kinds of pain control, and people using them legitimately do not often become addicts.
The addicts started, many of them very young, through experimenting with drugs, encouraged by dealers, other users, and our entire culture, which glorifies drug use. (Surprisingly enough, Nancy Reagan’s “just say no” campaign was effective, and many people have suggested renewing a similar campaign but one that is more graphic, such as the campaign that successfully reduced smoking in this country.)
And drug users are not “sick” and only in need of more treatment. Studies have shown that the rate of recovery is only about 30% for those who go through programs, and more than 50% of drug addicts who recover do so entirely on their own. Only they can decide to stop using, but they need the encouragement of society to do so, not blathering about how drug use is their right, rap songs about the wonderful world of drug selling and use, TV and Hollywood personalities staying stoned all the time, etc.
Only about 13% of opioid addicts were ever prescribed these drugs by their doctors.
That's very interesting information and may change things for me. The media, in my opinion, has been making an effort to say the opposite. As I understand the official propaganda, almost all opioid addicts are innocent victims. Their doctor gives them drugs for an injury on the soccer field, or because of a workplace accident and the next thing you know, the sweet boy living next door is a raving drug fiend. Just an innocent victim of our society and Big Pharma.
If in fact this is not the standard path, then I think there is no strong argument for a sympathetic pro-Libertarian argument. It's a choice. People make bad choices. And bad choices have consequences. I guess using heroin in a back alley to see what it felt like may have seemed like a good idea at the time ...
The streets are flooded with heroin. Heroin that people initially start off smoking and pretty quickly start injecting. Smoking something is a lot less scary then injecting. (especially dangerous when half the country is now smoking marijuana on a regular basis--I smell it everywhere these days) Users and experimenters always think it won't happen to them, they can control it. They are different.
People who use drugs, typically DO have a drug of choice but never balk at other forms of getting high when the DOC isn't available or stacking the high with other drugs.