I know quite a lot of previous methamphetamine abusers that have their lives together.
Prescription opiates and opioid are often just as powerful or even more powerful....
Indeed if you want to look at the issue of heroin use, you will often find a prior history before the heroin that includes hydrocodone, oxycodone, and possibly oxy or hydromorphone, maybe fentanyl in some form or another.
Most people that aren't considering crushing up a roxy and shooting it into their arm, are not very "I WANT TO DO HEROIN!" kinds of people. Its when you find yourself blowing down 150mg of oxycodone in a day, run out, can't find more, and then go looking for heroin.
I tried it once, tiny dose but it pinned my pupils and caused nausea.... No urge to explore further.
Alcohol, xanax, and prescription opiates have been the cause of way more problems.... I have watched family convulse on the floor from xanax withdrawal. Watched family suffer greatly from opiate withdrawal with and without heroin being involved. Seen the effects of alcoholism.
In many ways, alcohol and prescription medications are the first real drugs we encounter growing up. Medication is supposed to make you better, but everything has its price.
Despite all the fear mongering about the effects of all drugs, you are still way more likely to be hit by a drunk driver, or one on a lot of xanax and opiates. maybe all three.
A girl I went to school with crashed her car on alcohol, oxy, and xanax while not wearing a seat belt. pretty bubbly cheerleader with a mathematically gifted mind with SAT scores good enough for MIT. They said that she was texting and driving, it would have been a far more powerful message to all the oxy addicts at my school at the time to tell the truth. More than 1000 people, including myself attended her funeral, not my crowd but she gave off the vibe of a genuinely good person.
I know another girl that grew up in a generally abusive and generally insane environment, that lead to nymphomania, addictive tenedencies, OCD, mania, depression, and schizophrenic breakdowns that have escalated to the point of her becoming scary sorts of homicidal.... She apparently almost died a couple of times from heroin overdose... She doesn't seem to hold much blame towards the drug though. She doesn't want to grow old, and will end her life on her own terms when she wants to.... And a syringe full of heroin is how she wants to go out.
It is what it is, most of these people have seen Requiem for a Dream and know where it tends to lead.