[allthenews]

>driven in part by the effects of the opioid epidemic on younger adults in the U.S. and the impact of a severe flu season on older adults in other nations, two new studies suggest.

More likely we need to fix the socioeconomic circumstances that drive people toward opioids. Personally, I believe there is a complex cultural problem in the first world. We have it too easy, can subsist without working, and now that people are increasingly less religious, with nothing to do all day and nothing to replace god or community but vapid, consumerist materialism. So poor people turn to drugs to numb the emptiness in their lives. M Though I'm sure there's more involved.

[aisengard]

One big problem is that we've created a culture where there is literally nothing else other than labor and productivity, literally for productivity's sake. So when we run out of meaningful, productive jobs for everyone, people get depressed because we've drilled into their heads that if you're not being productive, you're worthless.

We need to create a society that values happiness over productivity and efficiency. It means not stigmatizing "laziness". It means not punishing doing something for its intellectual sake rather than for profit or productivity.

Basically, we need to start to discard the 20th century models of capitalism and communism and start focusing on what we want the 21st century to be about.

[emodendroket]

Opioids are also a cheaper fix to chronic pain problems than extensive therapy. And then when it gets too expensive to get prescription drugs heroin is cheaper.

[briandear]

Are opioids actually an epidemic when measured as a cause of death? 64,000 annually in the US (2016.) That’s not even in the top ten of causes of death.

[ebikelaw]

“Poisoning” (overdoses) and suicide are #1 and #2 causes of death for 25-44 year old Americans.

[mmirate]

Unfortunately I was a few minutes too late to direct this reply to the right place before it got eaten by flags.

Regardless, if anyone here thinks that the character "Thanos" would ever make a good exemplar among humans, then I encourage them to watch this rebuttal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV18Xx5EkaE