The trouble is that we treat all drugs and addiction as a crime. At least in the US, treatment options for opiad addictions are stupid expensive. Only rich peop

The trouble is that we treat all drugs and addiction as a crime. At least in the US, treatment options for opiad addictions are stupid expensive. Only rich people go to rehab. The normal person can't shell out that money or take that time off work. America needs to have better treatment programs and options for people who want them, and less stigma from punishment and less funding for private for-profit prisons. A good case study is probably Portugal. I heard a speaker tell an audience that if you are caught with serious drugs in Portugal, you go before a board, and basically lay our your life before them. They then give you required next steps; treatment options or whatever. But if you're supporting your family, paying your bills, have no debt you're not paying on to buy drugs, then they might just tell you to come back in six months. It's a case-by-case individual approach from what I understand. Other alternatives are safe injection houses. If you're going to inject, at least have a safe place with clean needles and nurses who are there if something goes wrong or you finally decide you want to quit.