One short letter's huge impact on the opioid epidemic

[kcr]

8. One letter. A convenient scapegoat that lets us ignore lots of other impacts.

Just how is it that all those other countries manage without all those opioids? Can we spot the differences?

Let's see. They have health care systems vastly better than ours. People who don't have to worry about how they're going to pay medical bills can see their doctor. They're less likely to develop painful chronic health conditions that require long term pain medication. They aren't worked to the bone with no time off, either. Not to mention all the chronic stress, untreated mental health issues, etc.

But now we're going to be shamed and called addicts and told we're lying about the pain and suffering caused by basically being a citizen of this wonderful country. And no one is going to fix any of those systemic problems any time soon. That's too hard. Pretending that's not the issue is so much easier. Better to treat pain and addiction like a crime and punish that, instead.