From William S. Burroughs, a quote I often think about in this context: "Statistically the people who become addicted to morphine are those who have access to

From William S. Burroughs, a quote I often think about in this context: "Statistically the people who become addicted to morphine are those who have access to it: doctors, nurses, anyone in contact with black market sources. In Persia where opium is sold without control in opium shops, 70 percent of the adult population is addicted. So we should psychoanalyze several million Persians to find out what deep conflicts and anxieties have driven them to the use of opium?" This is obviously a very supply-side view of drug abuse and very likely an oversimplification. But so is the view that we should tackle underlying causes first ("fix the broken system") when there is an obvious legal pipeline openly pumping opiates into these states. This is particularly off-base as the effects of opioid addiction are now a secondary cause for more opioid addiction (i.e. 'everyone is doing it', 'there are now plenty of dealers', etc.). So much of this is a cycle. I don't disagree about treating the 'broken system' but turning off the pipeline at the corporate level is a huge opportunity to improve things.