Stats would certainly suggest the police focused on putting the wrong drug dealers in jail: "In 2019, an estimated 10.1 million people aged 12 or older misused

Stats would certainly suggest the police focused on putting the wrong drug dealers in jail: "In 2019, an estimated 10.1 million people aged 12 or older misused opioids in the past year. Specifically, 9.7 million people misused prescription pain relievers and 745,000 people used heroin."[0] "From 1999–2019, nearly 500,000 people died from an overdose involving any opioid, including prescription and illicit opioids. This rise in opioid overdose deaths can be outlined in three distinct waves. The first wave began with increased prescribing of opioids in the 1990s, with overdose deaths involving prescription opioids (natural and semi-synthetic opioids and methadone) increasing since at least 1999"[1] So anyone who believes jail is a deterrent and wants to improve public health should probably be advocating for locking up more doctors, pharmaceutical company reps, shareholders and owners. [0]: https://www.hhs.gov/opioids/about-the-epidemic/opioid-crisis-statistics/index.html https://www.hhs.gov/opioids/about-the-epidemic/opioid-crisis... [1]: https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/epidemic/index.html https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/epidemic/index.html