In the United States, a 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that “1 in 10 Americans” over the age of 12 was addicted to an illegal drug (Statistics on Drug Addictions 2018). Since 2002, opioids have seen the largest increase in usage. Opioids have caused numerous overdoses, with one opioid, fentanyl, contributing to “44 %” of NYC overdose deaths in 2016 (Schwartz 2018). Today, the likelihood of one knowing a drug addict or someone who has overdosed is around 15%. If one hasn’t been directly affected by the epidemic, it can be spotted on any given day in NYC. Now, the cause of addiction varies from irresistible desires to drowning away one’s sorrows. Debates have brought attention to the issue, but the solution is not conspicuous. …show more content…
Most adults can make rational decisions and understand the consequences of their actions. Some philosophers, like Nozick, argued “that a minimal state, limited, to the narrow functions of protection against force, theft, fraud, enforcement of contracts, and so on, is justified, but any more extensive state will violate persons' rights not to be forced to do certain things, and is unjustified” (2013). In Nozick’s theory, people could do whatever they wanted as long as they weren’t affecting others. His theory included the legalization of drugs since people would be self governing. The theory provides a free world where people would only be protected from each other, not themselves, which raises concerns about addiction. If one becomes addicted to a substance, the government would provide no assistance to the person, and nobody would be morally right to help the addicted individual unless the individual asked for help. An addict does not have the same facilities as another rational being. They’ve become dependant on a vice, similar to the frostbitten child. What freedom does a person have when their addiction is controlling their every