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This isn't exclusive to the U.S. of course, but there's the pernicious view that they're "bad people", they make bad choices etc.

To this view I would reply with the idea, attributed to Socrates, that there is no such thing as "moral weakness", or that doing good and bad amounts to knowledge of what is good or bad or a lack of it (keeping in mind knowledge could be more than merely mental abstractions).

Now unless this idea can be disproven, how can "moral weakness" be used as a justification to ignore the plight of these people?

There's definitely more to it. This problem will continue regardless of the number of jobs available.

“ ... as long as American life was something to be escaped from, the cartel would always be assured a bottomless pool of new customers.” -Pynchon

Kids want to get high and they’re cheap?