“probably should blame the drugs for this but the libertarians would be upset.”
Drugs are fine! In the 1800s everyone used drugs and everyone was just fine. /s
According to the US government's own numbers, addiction was higher in 2000 than in 1900.
"By 1900, about one American in 200 was either a cocaine or opium addict." [that's 0.5%]
http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/demand/speakout/06so.htm
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The ONDCP estimate of the number of addicts to cocaine or heroin in 2000 was just over 4 million. In a population of 280,000,000 that works out to over 1.4%. See copy of table at this post:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1454298/posts?page=88#88
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That's a 0.5% rate in 1900 vs a 1.4% rate in 2000. An addiction rate 1.4% is greater than 0.5%, yes?