Given that this article only touches on the supply of these drugs, is there a tacit assumption that the demand for opioids is driven by unemployment? If so, what can be done about the demand for these drugs in the long term? "Bringing back jobs" to those people whose comparative advantage is no longer manufacturing by taxing robots or imposing tariffs is a temporary stall, and to the degree it does work it amounts to a fat, inefficient handout.

Fighting the "epidemic" at the supply level seems like a losing battle, as it is for the hard drugs that plague inner cities. Addressing it at the demand level has to be the answer, but I don't see any possible answers floated.