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Being addicted is not a weakness. Some drugs are stronger that any willpower.

When your doctor prescribes it to you like candy, it's really not the person's fault if he becomes addicted to it.

Please don't be ignorant and blame the victims.

Actually there are genetic factors that predispose you to addictive behaviors and substances. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2715956/

As OP says, many became addicted because of normal painkillers prescriptions from their doctors, not because they wanted to act cool in front of their friends.

You don't generaly second-guess your doctor's prescription.

Counterexample: patient has severe pain, is treated in the hospital with opiates, becomes addicted to opiates.

Wrong attitude. I think you would benefit from meeting more people from different socioeconomic backgrounds.

I've met them, and many are not that different from us.

- flight stewardess who lost job from smoking a joint

- lawyer who lost his wealth from poor investments

- former hockey player addicted to opiates from hospital after injury

- elderly man, also became addicted when given opiates at the hospital

- immigrant from Asia who has had no luck finding a job

- war veterans

- artists

- former nurse

- IT professional, now addicted to opiates

- an extremely nice patient who had autism and no family to support him

- various patients with psychosis, mania, schizophrenia

- adolescents born into a family with drugs (we had a father-son pair who were both on methadone and were supporting each other, they both had jobs and were looking to piece together their lives)

... and this is from an inner-city setting. You might even have coworkers who were former "junkies", or who have children struggling with addictions.

I understand your mindset (I had similar views when I was a teenager). Others may secretly have the same views as well. But I think it is a naive one.

Here's an interview with a very self-aware addict.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6ZFzEW7_Q4

You almost certainly interact with fully functioning addicts every day and don't realize it. If not you must be an agoraphobe. Anyways, I hope you realize the arrogance and cruelty of your beliefs before you lose someone to this epidemic.