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The author seems to be striving to miss the point. There's a big difference between dying of cirrhosis, heart disease, diabetes, lung cancer, emphysema, etc in

The author seems to be striving to miss the point. There's a big difference between dying of cirrhosis, heart disease, diabetes, lung cancer, emphysema, etc in middle age and a 19-year-old kid OD'ing a couple of weeks or months after falling down the addiction spiral. It's not just the number of deaths, it's the impact to society. Line cooks don't steal kitchen equipment to buy booze and smokes. Opiate addiction upends lives in a way that alcohol and tobacco simply do not.

jmh530 9y ago
One cause (some say a or the major cause) of the agricultural revolution was a desire to make alcohol more efficiently. Can we count all the people who are alive because the agricultural revolution on the side of alcohol?
ssijak 9y ago
Booze addicts do steal stuff and are as bad for society as opiate addicts
PrgsvThgt 9y ago
I think the author has nailed the point, spot on. A person's life is valuable, regardless of their age and morbidity (or how they came to acquire a lethal health condition). I've see so many people arguing that "because this afflicts younger people, this is the more important crisis." That's a red herring of the worst sort. Resources should be focused on the problem of the greatest magnitude, with which the most net-social-good can be created. The emotionalism surrounding the "opoid epidemic" is little more than that, emotionalism.
24gttghh 9y ago
The CDC would point out that yes, Alcohol has a huge impact on society; in this context, via drunk driving: https://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/impaired_driving/impaired-drv_factsheet.html https://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/impaired_driving/impa... >Every day, 28 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. This is one death every 51 minutes. The annual cost of alcohol-related crashes totals more than $44 billion.
oxide 9y ago
most people don't start with heroin. Keep in mind any solution, including painkiller cutbacks, is proven to result in increased heroin usage (see: oxycontin reformulation in the early 2000's. By the end if the decade all abusable oxycontin would be gone.) People are dying because heroin is illegal. Full stop. Fentanyl cut in heroin is a result of a broken approach.
anigbrowl 9y ago
Yeah, it's pure clickbait.
mnm1 9y ago
That difference is mainly legal status. Make alcohol and tobacco illegal and you'll see line cooks stealing to buy booze and smokes, organized crime around the industry, and everything we currently have with other illegal drugs. Hell, you don't even have to run this thought experiment yourself, but just read books about prohibition. Also, what's the difference between a 19-year-old kid OD'ing a couple of weeks or months after falling down the addiction spiral and a 19-year-old kid dying in a car crash from drinking and driving a couple of weeks or months after falling down the addiction spiral (of alcohol)?

jmh530 9y ago

One cause (some say a or the major cause) of the agricultural revolution was a desire to make alcohol more efficiently. Can we count all the people who are alive because the agricultural revolution on the side of alcohol?

ssijak 9y ago

Booze addicts do steal stuff and are as bad for society as opiate addicts

PrgsvThgt 9y ago

I think the author has nailed the point, spot on. A person's life is valuable, regardless of their age and morbidity (or how they came to acquire a lethal health condition). I've see so many people arguing that "because this afflicts younger people, this is the more important crisis." That's a red herring of the worst sort. Resources should be focused on the problem of the greatest magnitude, with which the most net-social-good can be created. The emotionalism surrounding the "opoid epidemic" is little more than that, emotionalism.

24gttghh 9y ago

The CDC would point out that yes, Alcohol has a huge impact on society; in this context, via drunk driving: https://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/impaired_driving/impaired-drv_factsheet.html https://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/impaired_driving/impa... >Every day, 28 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. This is one death every 51 minutes. The annual cost of alcohol-related crashes totals more than $44 billion.

oxide 9y ago

most people don't start with heroin. Keep in mind any solution, including painkiller cutbacks, is proven to result in increased heroin usage (see: oxycontin reformulation in the early 2000's. By the end if the decade all abusable oxycontin would be gone.) People are dying because heroin is illegal. Full stop. Fentanyl cut in heroin is a result of a broken approach.

anigbrowl 9y ago

Yeah, it's pure clickbait.

mnm1 9y ago

That difference is mainly legal status. Make alcohol and tobacco illegal and you'll see line cooks stealing to buy booze and smokes, organized crime around the industry, and everything we currently have with other illegal drugs. Hell, you don't even have to run this thought experiment yourself, but just read books about prohibition. Also, what's the difference between a 19-year-old kid OD'ing a couple of weeks or months after falling down the addiction spiral and a 19-year-old kid dying in a car crash from drinking and driving a couple of weeks or months after falling down the addiction spiral (of alcohol)?