One important point that a doctor makes in Dreamland is that if Oxy / heroin did not exist, all of the people who got addicted would still end up being addicts.
Their addiction would likely be to alcohol and it would develop later in life because alcohol takes much longer than heroin to wipe out an individual, but the addiction would still happen.
The issues that pushed these people to addiction would still be there, irrespective of whether Oxy / heroin ever crossed their path.
Clarissa's Blog 
That’s way too fatalistic and deterministic. Do you actually agree withtaht?
If alcohol addiction took 10 years to take hold and heroin took 1 year, there is definitely a huge chance in years 1-10 things get fixed where alcohol is either no problem at all , or a managed one.
Very untrue statement
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If you have untreated heart illness, sooner or later it will manifest. If you have untreated asthma, sooner or later it will manifest. It’s not fatalistic to say that untreated problems remain untreated.
What is fatalistic is the idea that addiction “just happens” for no reason whatsoever. Things don’t work like that. Addiction develops as a coping mechanism for long-standing psychological problems.
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Addiction is hugely likely to be a coping mechanism. Whether something is a 10 year or a 1 year coping mechanism certainly matters. No doubt either can result in life-altering addictions, but definitely of a different nature. Depending on life events and obviously personal choice and luck, the vast majority of people can / could / will become addicts, but of very types and intensities. Its the interaction of a ton of variables for an addiction to become life alterting. how quick a substance effects you definitely matters
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