Yes and it goes beyond homelessness and crime. Social services, never built to handle an epidemic like this, are overrun. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/may/17/ohio-drugs-c...

Hospitals are ill-equipped to handle addicts and the tangled web of birth, opiates, and crime that comes with it. The result: kids die. http://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/baby-opio...

The mere aspect of caring for a child born with what they call neonatal abstinence syndrome e.g. babies addicted to opiates is too much for the current system. Lily's Place in West Virginia is one response, but it's a drop in the national bucket. http://wvpublic.org/post/lilys-place-continuing-care-addicte...

Now picture a school in a community overrun by this trying to contend with children born addicted to opiates, and parents who merely shrug when social services takes their children away. Portsmouth, Ohio is one that has been hard hit by the opioid epidemic. There is no safety net for this sort of thing, and it's crushing the institutions that it touches while wrecking the community. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/may/17/drugs-opiod-...

I can feel the anger in this post but please know it's not directed at you or HN. I see this up close and the hopelessness of it all, makes me feel impotent to meaningfully help, and subsequently, angry.

That is probably the most depressing hn comment ever.

I didn't disagree, but it isn't fair to compare only deaths. Terror can destroy the economy suddenly. Cause huge societal shifts. Opoid epidemic is a horrible and slow wasting. There is a definite "terror isn't a big deal, barely kills anyone" bias on HN. I do agree it is very hard to quantify and endlessly used to abuse authority and gain new authority that doesn't solve real terror problems. And there are real problems. They just get co-opted by politicians.

Anyway, I have direct familial experience with relatives becoming addicted to prescription painkillers, so I don't need to be convinced, I grew up in the deep south, and have seen the impact first hand. Folks go from opiods to alcohol and meth. Their body is cooked by 40. It breaks families and is a quietly suffered epidemic. Terror is flashy and in your face. No one cares if your uncle died when you were 15 addicted to alcohol and meth. You get all sorts of patriotic platitudes about heroism if your relative is killed by a terrorist.

Edit: It informs life choices in interesting ways. When that tough on his luck guy comes over, smelling like a still at 11am, I can relate to where that guy is. So I let him pet my dog on our walk and treat him with kindness, because not many others will. It is about as hopeless a problem as you can find when a family member is in deep. Anyway, we do other things, but everyone has a hard go at it in life, some people just have it harder and deserve compassion. We do other things to help, but everyone loves petting dogs.