Do we keep getting this wrong because of perverse incentives, malice, or just plain stupidity? Was it not expected that clamping down on legal opioids would cause an illegal market to flourish? We've been doing this sort of thing for decades now. We know what's going to happen. No need to do research. There's a mountain of empirical data.
What alternatives were considered? There has to be a better approach.
I think it's a combination of all of the above. Politicians who see drug abuse and ignore experts when making policy. Politicians turning a blind eye thanks to lobbyists.
You don't need to look far to see folks who think they know better than medical experts, or who are motivated by greed and corruption.
The kinds of politicians these uneducated, white, rural people are voting for are surely not the kind to push for compassionate, evidence-based solutions to the addictions ruining their communities. They have only themselves to blame for their towns' blight.
What alternatives were considered? There has to be a better approach.