> If you could purchase any drug OTC at a fair price, virtually no one would be risking their life on dodgy street drugs.

I had a big post here comparing the black market for marijuana here in Oregon (spoiler: it’s larger than ever, half the cost of retail, and now largely run by cartels) but ultimately the larger issue society seems blind to is that addicts don’t think rationally about their addictions.

So yes, opioid addicts absolutely will risk their lives to get a hit that costs half as much.