7 ms·

I don't know if it's a true "decision" to take drugs for many people. If they have crippling pain due to an injury, they may be prescribed pain medication and t

I don't know if it's a true "decision" to take drugs for many people. If they have crippling pain due to an injury, they may be prescribed pain medication and then find they can't get off. See my other comment for a scenario.

prepend 8y ago
It’s complex because there are different reasons for addiction. Prescription rates are very high to support your example [0] Recreational use is a bit harder, for me at least, to gauge. I found the 2017 global drug survey [1] showing about 2% opium/heroine use among respondents. [0] https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/maps/rxrate-maps.html https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/maps/rxrate-maps.html [1] https://www.globaldrugsurvey.com/wp-content/themes/globaldrugsurvey/results/GDS2017_key-findings-report_final.pdf https://www.globaldrugsurvey.com/wp-content/themes/globaldru... (I wasn’t very familiar with this source, but I saw 10+ citations including some respectable journals like BMJ, https://www.globaldrugsurvey.com/about-us/methods-and-limitations/ https://www.globaldrugsurvey.com/about-us/methods-and-limita...