I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

1. Some people do not seem have an addictive response to opioids. It's roughly in the same safety category as alcohol and weed.

2. Some people become nearly-instantly profoundly physically addicted to the point that it will inexorably destroy their lives.

The only way to figure which category you're in is to try it and find out. There's a personal liberty principle argument that if you are in the first category, you should have access to opioids just like you have access to other pursuits of happiness. But the inability to determine whether you're that category induces a significant risk at the aggregate level. People die and everyone, even those who can take opioids safely end up indirectly dealing with the negative consequences in terms of rising healthcare costs, dealing with homeless drug users on the street, etc.

I can think of three philosophical approaches to this:

* Communal: Say that since some fraction of people will be grievously harmed by opioids, the greatest good for all is to prohibit them universally. We ask the safe users to sacrifice the harmless positive experience to protect the unsafe users from harm. This is nominally what we do now by outlawing them.

* Libertarian: Acknowledge that even trying is a roll of the dice and that if you choose to roll them, you have to take the consequences. This is effectively what we do now since the law enforcement is so ineffective.

* Technological: Research a way to determine whether you can take opioids safely without having to try them. Imagine a test your doctor could give you that says "Yes, you'll be physically addicted." That increased certainty would remove much of the stigma of use, and make it easier for those that are at risk to stay away because they know they really are likely to get addicted.

I don't usually lean towards tech solutions to societal problems, but this seems like a case where having more insight into an individual's physiology would help everyone make better choices.

(Personally, after receiving fentanyl during a medical procedure, I am absolutely certain I should never be given easy access to opioids.)

Without a doubt, how else do they get introduced/exposed to such temptations otherwise.

Pattern that usually follows is, cocaine, then onto doing crack as suddenly in their mind it's cheaper better high or other mental juggling to avoid having a break and carry on chasing that next level of high, building tolerance all the time. Then the comedowns, well whilst the highs may not seem as good and cost more to reach that level the downsides are less easier to adjust tolerance wise. So you find that chasing a line of heroin solves all that nasty crack come down and once in a while, you won't get hooked, after all you are able to do all that crack and your mentally strong and other decisions made whilst completely out of it on crack cocaine. So you make that leap, the odd bit becomes more and year on and your addicted. Coz prices and that, not long before your after that next level, so injecting for many becomes a hurdle that gets lower and more appealing and justified in crossing. You will just do it the once, case of only way to solve your needs as not enough to chase and sort the cramps. I've seen all this play out many times, heck even audio surveillance from chasing to shooting up to introducing new recruits into junkie club, via crack and then heroin. After all, opportunity to sort somebody out and charge them extra for sorting it, kickback from dealer and chance to share a hit - addiction makes people greedy and that greed plays out in doing what's best for them, if others freely bit that apple, they will certainly not stop them that hard. After all, how they themselves started doing drugs. Seen it play out just too many times and from start to coffin too many times and shocking how much goes on, ignored as society as a whole class the addicts as the victims and the dealers as the baddies in a clear cut way when I can attest that the lines are very blurred indeed.

I outright abused alcohol early in 2020 because shit got a bit cray-cray. Then just stopped because alcohol got boring. Done that a lot with alcohol.

Had an experience with Xanax several years ago though and I'm not touching that stuff again ever unless I'm terminal (then, yes, please). Still managed to identify the onset of addiction and stop it before it really got going, but I'm not touching that chemical again.

> A typical drug user is someone who uses drugs.

It's impossible to neatly encapsulate every single type of drug user into a "typical" category. Everyone is different.

Some people use drugs. Others don't. Some people can use drugs recreationaly, others can't (including myself).