I disagree about people being able to manage opiates responsibly.<p>Yes I have read the rolling stone or NYT articles describing people who hold down regular jobs and hit heroin once a day, and have done that for years. But what a fucked up life. You think they&#x27;re doing that for fun?<p>Read my above comment regarding the methadone program. Look into the root of the problem.  Opiates cannot be responsibly managed by the masses (OK, there&#x27;s a reasonable argument to be made that either can alcohol).<p>I personally know 2 people who got sucked down the drain with opiates, and i am a white upper middle class Australian - these two guys were as well; one was a medical school buddy who has recently blown his license because of it despite being one of the most intelligent guys in my grade, the other was a guy I went to school with, the same thing, a pure genius, and he is dead.<p>Now every drug you take has a certain chance of causing addiction. Some people taste alcohol once and loose control. Some people get addicted to smoking. and some people will try heroin once and decide it&#x27;s not for them, and get on with their lives. But do you know who are the ones who won&#x27;t be able to stop? And when the consequences of getting addicted are literally flushing your entire life down the toilet, how can we as a society condone a section of ourselves to play this lottery?