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Err... Heroin was available before the current epidemic. It was easy to find. There were plenty of sellers and users. It may be that you are not a user? Howeve

by KGIII 9y ago

Err... Heroin was available before the current epidemic. It was easy to find. There were plenty of sellers and users. It may be that you are not a user? However, it was there and easy to find. A user can spot another user, though I'm not sure why. They look just like normal people, to you. Most users aren't homeless and dirty. They have jobs and houses. They have cars and families. Heroin has been here for a long, long time. The dealers were making money for as long as I've been alive. Source: Me. I started using in the 70s.

joe_the_user 9y ago
You may find it hard to believe but I've been around heroin all my adult life as well (though not using). I've seen a lot of people die, whole groups of friends and so-forth. Certainly you have the fully functioning addicts. But you also have a lot of people driven by despair. Plus - the fully functioning addicts functioned a lot more when the economy functioned. Heroin, at the minimum, is one more heavy ball to keep in the air for a person juggling a lot in their lives. The state of the economy today guarantees people are going to be dropping those balls on the ground. So is it the economy make the addiction problem worse or is it that the economy makes addicts die and we see the problem more? Hey, I bet neither you nor I nor the social scientists can figure out for sure - what with the replication crisis and all.
- KGIII 9y ago
  I am not sure what causes what. I also have a bit of a different view than some others. I've never had a habit larger than I could afford. I can't speak to the experiences of others. The point was, mostly, that heroin has been readily available for a long time, well before the current epidemic. I can be dropped into most any city and score within a few hours. I don't even have to speak the language.
  - joe_the_user 9y ago
    I am not sure what causes what. Well, if you mean whether misery 'cause addiction or addiction causes misery; given that people actually vary a lot in how they react to things, I'm pretty sure that each causes the other some significant part of the time. And maybe life out-of-control just cause habit out of control. But if so, "same difference" as they said in the eighties. Add peer pressure causing a lot of this too.

by KGIII 9y ago

joe_the_user 9y ago

You may find it hard to believe but I've been around heroin all my adult life as well (though not using). I've seen a lot of people die, whole groups of friends and so-forth. Certainly you have the fully functioning addicts. But you also have a lot of people driven by despair. Plus - the fully functioning addicts functioned a lot more when the economy functioned. Heroin, at the minimum, is one more heavy ball to keep in the air for a person juggling a lot in their lives. The state of the economy today guarantees people are going to be dropping those balls on the ground. So is it the economy make the addiction problem worse or is it that the economy makes addicts die and we see the problem more? Hey, I bet neither you nor I nor the social scientists can figure out for sure - what with the replication crisis and all.

KGIII 9y ago
I am not sure what causes what. I also have a bit of a different view than some others. I've never had a habit larger than I could afford. I can't speak to the experiences of others. The point was, mostly, that heroin has been readily available for a long time, well before the current epidemic. I can be dropped into most any city and score within a few hours. I don't even have to speak the language.
- joe_the_user 9y ago
  I am not sure what causes what. Well, if you mean whether misery 'cause addiction or addiction causes misery; given that people actually vary a lot in how they react to things, I'm pretty sure that each causes the other some significant part of the time. And maybe life out-of-control just cause habit out of control. But if so, "same difference" as they said in the eighties. Add peer pressure causing a lot of this too.