You can't fight a war against inanimate objects. You can fight a war against drug addicts. You cannot possibly win a war against drug addicts without addressing the fundamental problem.
Then the whole Sackler / Oxycontin thing came to light. And I saw (well, second hand) a normal person get hooked on pain meds after back surgery, thanks to those assholes. And they're not in prison.
That's when I concluded that we lack the collective will to take the necessary steps to fully stop the trade of addictive drugs.
However, our drug war is causing Mexico to descend in to anarchy and people are dying by the thousands, or living in total fear of cartels that we trained in the School of the Americas.
Thus, I conclude we have to decriminalize and treat our addicts. Enforcement is not working. If we had a sane drug policy 30-40 years ago, Mexico might be a healthy vibrant trading partner.
> drug abuse being primarily being a function of the existence or lack of interpersonal involvement and responsibilities that would preclude spending time and money on them
AFAIK there have always been addicts in every culture. Alcohol, various drugs, and strongly self destructive behaviors are not recent additions to the human experience. But I don't know any if the numbers or the research on this root cause you mention.
I don't know if I'd go as far as to say it's the fundamental problem, but definitely a major factor.
Surely you would agree that there the proportion of addicts varies by culture and society, that the US for example has a much higher proportion than many poorer nations? I don't know about the first comment's claim that lack of interpersonal relationship is the root cause, but a strong social component looks obvious to me.
Poorer nations, those folks tend to die pretty fast though.
https://www.naturalhigh.org/icelands-radical-transformation-...
> AFAIK there have always been addicts in every culture
Alcohol addicts are a totally different thing compared to drug addicts. You can die as a result of alcohol, but there's nothing like fentanyl in the alcohol world (I'm talking about the scale of the disaster, I know about the few alcohol intoxications here and there).
Do you have any links to social programs that have successfully dealt with meth addiction?
Can't say I have seen any locally (New Zealand) and we are a country more likely to see such programs?
1) The implication of my statement wasn't that social programs would solve the problem single-handedly, but that they're more effective than enhanced law enforcement spending.
2) This would seem to be, at the very least, supported by the people who advocated for treating the (mostly white and middle-class) victims of the opioid epidemic in the US as suffering from a medical rather than criminal affliction.
What do police have to do with the effectiveness of social programs? A fundamentally ineffective social program will be just about as ineffective no matter how much funding it gets - because the problem they are approaching isn't one that they can solve.
Correct - ironically, as you're describing most law enforcement agencies. The money spent on police - particularly their generous overtime and pension pay, equipment outlays, and hilariously ineffectual training - could be used to fund social interventions that actually work.
Drugs can also be stolen, from homes, and from pharmacies, and from ambulances.
There are way more vectors than people care to ponder. If you've ever had an addict in your life, you're forced to.
If the mountain will not go to...
Also, do not underestimate the capabilities of a meth user when they get fixated on something.
Teachers push any kid that can’t sit still while being bored for hours to be taken to the doctor for adhd, where they are quickly prescribed amphetamine salts. What do you think they will hit the streets for if their addy script ever gets cut off, or, there’s a shortage of supply? (happened recently). Methamphetamine.
Many people use small doses of meth the same way they would take a daily dose of adderall.
You can actually be prescribed literally methamphetamine. Not amphetamine, methamphetamine. It’s rare, but it exists.