[groby_b]

Talk to your government about their drug policies enacted at the behest of the pharmaceutical industry. That's a much bigger problem than the teenagers in your industry.[1]

Of course, that'll also mean actually getting out the corrupt autocrats currently in charge. So... get politically engaged. (And by that I mean, do real work. Posting on social media is not getting politically engaged. Get out. Organize. Hold your politicians accountable. Run yourself.)

Going after the teens in your neighborhood might feel more satisfying, but the drug problem is a systemic problem. It's not caused by a few teens, it won't be fixed by locking up a few teens.

[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/investigations/...

[NegativeK]

If someone says that they're trying to deal with local drug deaths, telling them that their local problems aren't worth their time isn't the right answer.

[groby_b]

It's convenient to have a local scapegoat. It feels good to inflict pain on people you perceive as the guilty party. I certainly understand that. I've lost more than one friend.

But that convenience has brought us to where we are right now. If we continue to close our eyes to reality, preferring to go after scapegoats, guess what - nothing is going to change. We need to channel our anger into more productive channels.

You don't solve a systemic problem by attacking symptoms.

[NegativeK]

You also don't keep things healthy by ignoring the symptoms.