You should read up more on the opioid crisis and fentanyl specifically. Poverty and "lack of economic opportunity" is not a new thing. We're dealing with something entirely different and these armchair expert comments and opinions don't help things.
As for "poverty and lack of opportunity" not being a new thing, no shit. But we've seen a hollowing out of the middle class over the past few decades. So a lot of newly impoverished people who grew up middle class, or are else seeing their quality of life decline through no fault of their own. That is relatively new on the scale that we're seeing it.
And I say this as someone who's immediate family has had some past issues with fentanyl addiction, so it's anecdotal, but I'm hardly just speaking from my armchair here.