I'm going to chip in here as I feel I'm qualified to do so as a recovering hard drug addict (clean almost a year).
Addiction like most human conditions is complex, to debate this article it helps to have a clearer understanding of what causes addiction. I'm going to state my beliefs as truth, they are after all my truth.
Addiction comes in many shapes, substance misuse, alcoholism, food addiction, porn addiction, consumerism and gambling to name some. They are not caused by the substance (or object etc) per se, i will paraphrase from a talk i will link to, if your grandma breaks her hip and is given medical quality opiates to relive her pain, she doesn't suddenly become a junkie.
Addiction is borne from the inate human desire to form relationships. If we cannot form relationships with people (because we are socially isolated, homeless and have no one to turn to, have issues that no one else understands for example) some people will substitute those relationship with people for relationships with "stuff". You may recognise in yourself that you do this with technology.
For some people the bonds they form are with more destructive thinks that $400 juice machines or the latest apple product, they are with substances that provide temporary feelings of acceptance but simultaneously corrode your very human-ness.
It's not strictly correct to say that one drug leads to another; shit, disconnected lives lead to substance abuse (rich and famous people can be isolated too) it's also not fully correct that medicating those people
Addicted to opiates with a controlled amount of pharma grade opiates is the answer also, that just gives them
A life sentence into opiod jail.
The answers to the problem require analysing why the problem exists.. whether you are wealthy or poor, it's clear that we are further apart as people and further isolates into the imaginary world of the internet more than ever. It's not a political question, similarly the answer is not political but sociological.
For anyone who has 15 minutes to listen to a powerful TED talk that will explain why the homeless guy and the middle class college kid both develop drug problems, watch this:
It could equip you with a completely different perspective about problems and solutions to addiction and also introduce you to the Portugal way of beating the problem.
Addiction like most human conditions is complex, to debate this article it helps to have a clearer understanding of what causes addiction. I'm going to state my beliefs as truth, they are after all my truth.
Addiction comes in many shapes, substance misuse, alcoholism, food addiction, porn addiction, consumerism and gambling to name some. They are not caused by the substance (or object etc) per se, i will paraphrase from a talk i will link to, if your grandma breaks her hip and is given medical quality opiates to relive her pain, she doesn't suddenly become a junkie.
Addiction is borne from the inate human desire to form relationships. If we cannot form relationships with people (because we are socially isolated, homeless and have no one to turn to, have issues that no one else understands for example) some people will substitute those relationship with people for relationships with "stuff". You may recognise in yourself that you do this with technology.
For some people the bonds they form are with more destructive thinks that $400 juice machines or the latest apple product, they are with substances that provide temporary feelings of acceptance but simultaneously corrode your very human-ness.
It's not strictly correct to say that one drug leads to another; shit, disconnected lives lead to substance abuse (rich and famous people can be isolated too) it's also not fully correct that medicating those people Addicted to opiates with a controlled amount of pharma grade opiates is the answer also, that just gives them A life sentence into opiod jail.
The answers to the problem require analysing why the problem exists.. whether you are wealthy or poor, it's clear that we are further apart as people and further isolates into the imaginary world of the internet more than ever. It's not a political question, similarly the answer is not political but sociological.
For anyone who has 15 minutes to listen to a powerful TED talk that will explain why the homeless guy and the middle class college kid both develop drug problems, watch this:
https://youtu.be/PY9DcIMGxMs
It could equip you with a completely different perspective about problems and solutions to addiction and also introduce you to the Portugal way of beating the problem.
Peace and Love (off to deanonymise)