What do you think truly makes the difference between a functional addict and a not functional addict? Im functional id day i work take care of the house my girl and let's all while doing bags and bags of smack. Do you think its more so people's genes or mental state that plays the biggest role in that?
I should have been clearer. It isn't an objective yes or no but a subjective spectrum. Yes, MOST long-time users (>10 years) live stable lives. While others might be drinking two bottles of spirits every evening, people who choose opioids are often in better physical condition or at least eating, sleeping and well, HAVING a life. Probably you wouldn't even know they used.
It's when every action is either obtaining or using. Where the only structure in a person's life IS using that a person can become chaotic because the 24/7/365 'mission' has replaced everything else. Using is the ONLY structure in their lives so a glitch where they cannot get their stuff is where the bad stuff happens.
When a couple both use it either turns into a totally unbreakable bond OR they end up suspecting the other of 'holding out' and it's uniformly disasterous.
Is mental health a driver? I would say it's by far the biggest driver. It's simply self-medication.
What I would say is that if you are part of a society, you don't get to pick and choose which parts of that compact you accept. We ALL know prohibition simply doesn't work but right now, we all know that even using such things is a criminal offcence and I think terms of imprisonmnent are also significant drivers.
A criminal record ironically tends to disproportionately block low-level employment so on release a person has been given a verbal grab-bag of quick scams whose sole commonality is not mentioning that the person got CAUGHT. But they won't be trusted with money or goods, are blocked from whole sectors of employment so not really a surprise so many reach into said grab-bag.
Two thoughts by Malcolm Hardee were 'Like juggling and mime, prison is just a dreadful waste of time' & that as an ex-convict his 2 options were to become a mini-cab driver or a comedian.
So it's not so much that I worry for you life, it's more a case of I worry about your liberty and that of the vast and mostly invisible group who cannot be measured because they simply do not end up on any record.
Make no mistake, like all drugs of which a subgroup we term psychoactive and a subgroup of that we term 'opioids' carry risks. How much risk a person is prepared to take is probably not the worst metric to judge how chaotic a persons use is.
If I DON'T see you post, I worry.