What is exceptionally sad is that it is a 100% preventable death.

It is not genetic cancer, Type 1 diabetes, Ebola, or some other fatal disease (with or without modern pharmaceuticals).

Addiction is a “bad habit” ingrained in people by Big Pharma and/or companies out to make money off you killing your self by your own hand. Dealers are no different, just a market to pay their own bills.

There are healthy free ways to learn to cope with trauma and stress for 95% of people (I admit 5% have such hopeless lives or are so low IQ I give them a free pass but even I don’t always think they are write offs).

Addiction is largely a “disease” of either selfishness/psychopathy genes or seeking love in all the wrong places/underlying mental illness/no proper parental guidance. Each subset requires a different treatment approach.

If you keep buying the lies that addiction is some fatal unavoidable disease like cancer or the person addicted played no role or responsibility in their situation you will get what you see now-millions dying needless deaths by their own hand. It’s a planned self culling of the “less desirable DNA”. The people who can’t cope. The people who are “weak”. The people with “bad family values”. The vulnerable.

Other countries don’t have these problems, just the West.

You have an addiction in most counties you are shunned, forced to get off the substance of choice, and “miraculously” get better in most cases. You don’t live in a tent setting fires to keep warm and looking for a place to inject that isn’t coveted in urine and open infected sores. It’s the only “disease” where the cure is 100% possible with removing the trigger.

Houston had mental health issues and was subjected to a lifetime of abuse by her husband. Absolutely everyone around her enabled her and maybe even wanted her dead.

Almost always addiction is a disease of enabling. Addicts are professionals at getting people to feel sorry for them and playing victim, they will convince anyone anything to believe them. That’s essentially part of their condition.

My spouse had an addiction. It was going to kill him, just like Houston. I got him off every substance, eating healthy, exercising, a total health nut who works a meaningful full time job paying taxes and is in a better place. He is 100% off any addictive substance because this is what needs to be done. This is the approach I support, because your loved ones (and you) deserve that.