Yet, people still continue to use and get addicted to the drug. I feel a great deal of pity for the people whose lives have been destroyed by heroin, not just because of their addiction, but because of the underlying pain that must have been there for them to get to that point.
[1]: Comparative Epidemiology of Dependence on Tobacco, Alcohol, Controlled Substances, and Inhalants: Basic Findings From the National Comorbidity Survey (http://www.umbrellasociety.ca/web/files/u1/Comp_epidemiology...)
If you marketed caffeine the same way you would see the same patterns of behaviors around coffee, the fact that it's heroin where we see these issues is fairly arbitrary.
I don't think my brother had a death wish when he was introduced to heroin. He had an addictive personality and quickly became an addict. When he OD'd it likely was not a suicide but an attempt to get high. He apparently had progressed from having others shoot him up to doing it solo.
Yes, heroin is more medically benign than alcohol if used correctly, but the addictive power of all opiates is something that makes it dangerous for abuse.
It should be legal and well regulated, and drug education should be shifted to awareness of addiction and how to avoid it.
I mean if you look at the research, it's the same childhood factors that predict both drug abuse and suicide, e.g. the Adverse Childhood Experience study.