[NobleFree]

We stopped it before it got that bad by outlawing these drugs.

That's one theory - another, no less consistent with that evidence, is that it was never going to get that bad.

addicted to drugs would tend to make people aware that the stuff is dangerous, and so would therefore initiate a temperance movement to stop it.

The temperance movement was not about opium: http://law.jrank.org/pages/10714/Temperance-Movement.html

[DiogenesLamp]

That's one theory - another, no less consistent with that evidence, is that it was never going to get that bad.

And why would growth of addiction not continue in the manner that it occurred in China? What magic was going to stop it?