>To what extent does society need to be the paternalistic caretakers of us all?
Tough line to draw, but heroin is firmly on the "protect us" side.
It should be obvious by now that this method doesn't work and we can't just erase the habit of using recreational drugs from human history.
Humanity is a species obsessed with experimentation and exploration. We take mind-altering substances for a wide variety of reasons. Solving problems, winding down at the end of the day, trying to get a boost of creativity, having a spiritual experience or just getting fucked up for the sake of it.
If the lawmakers really have our best interest in mind, they should concentrate on education, harm reduction and making sure the drugs people consume do not contain any other, potentially very dangerous substances.
We don't need our governments to protect us from ourselves. We need them to make sure these substances are clean, people are aware of the risks and that they have somewhere to go if they need help.
Opioids are definitely a slippery slope, but imprisoning users seems like the wrong way to treat the epidemic.