[heather45879]

Opiate crisis has less to do with people’s deaths and more about their addiction. The lengths they go to score another fix—stabbing people, robbing family members, selling themselves, etc.

It’s one thing to die from doing something stupid—it’s something else entirely to inflict pain and hardship on others.

[skissane]

> The lengths they go to score another fix—stabbing people, robbing family members, selling themselves, etc.

Would they do that if the government just gave them the drug they are addicted to for free? I don’t think so.

Is the real problem then the addiction, or the public policy context in which the addiction exists?

Of course, I wouldn’t want to be addicted to opioids, even if the government gave them to me for free, due to the potential negative long-term health consequences, and also potential negative impacts on cognitive functioning which may in turn limit one’s educational/career/life prospects. But I don’t know if being in such a scenario, even if millions were in such a scenario, would be a “crisis” in the same sense that opioids currently are

[haskellandchill]

Methadone/Suboxone are opioids prescribed for addiction and are often free through low income programs. If they were made more accessible would that solve the crisis? I don’t think so. It’s hard to get to the stage where you accept them as a necessary solution and are still in the dangerous area of trying to taper with unknown quality substances. High quality government heroin/pills and supervised usage would likely work but it’s clear the US would never consider that an option.