"If you want to understand a society, take a good look at the drugs it uses. And what can this tell you about American culture? Well, look at the drugs we use. Except for pharmaceutical poison, there are essentially only two drugs that Western civilization tolerates:...

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Caffeine from Monday to Friday to energize you enough to make you a productive member of society, and alcohol from Friday to Monday to keep you too stupid to figure out the prison that you are living in." - Bill Hicks

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[–]jet199 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

That's not aged well.

1 in 4 Americans are now on mental health drugs. https://www.kff.org/health-costs/press-release/poll-nearly-1-in-4-americans-taking-prescription-drugs-say-its-difficult-to-afford-medicines-including-larger-shares-with-low-incomes/

More than the amount who drink heavily or moderately. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db374.htm#:~:text=Health%20Interview%20Survey-,In%202018%2C%20two%2Dthirds%20of%20adults%20aged%2018%20and%20over,consume%20alcohol%20(Figure%201).

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

It's not surprising, to be honest. The power of big pharma, the lobbying of private healthcare to push unnecessary medication in place of other methods of therepy, the television advertising for Zoloft, and the modern work fragility making every minor gripe or quiver of anxiety a full blown mental health disorder has been a perfect storm for prescription drug use.

The point though, is the accepted drugs of choice are the upper to get us through the day job and the downer to blank out the reality of people's shitty lives. If anything, the caffiene use has only been increased globally with the introduction of commercial coffee chains like Starfucks. Coffee shops and cafes were for truckers and granny's when I was a kid.

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

It seems to be a part of US "ideology" that for every symptom or problem, there is a corresponding pill to "cure" it. Even when it isn't even a treatment, but only an FDA-approval for this drug in this context in question. Which is the result of politics behind closed doors, bribes switching hands, certainly not a rather "scientific" entitled process.

Without this mindset, the opioid crisis possibly couldn't have been possible.

Above that: Prescription drugs seem to be regarded as rather harmless for most parts by the public. This isn't any better in Germany, though.

Which then bites their users in their asses when they start to combine different drugs.

The quoted numbers I regard as rather lower bounds for gen pop in the US. Maybe even the world in general, where this kind of drugs are available, from my experience.