Usually the "society" issue is framed as some sort of welfare crisis. I have a more-than-one-hand-full of friends and acquaintances from earlier in life who ruined or ended their life with drugs. And so I don't know anything statistically, but I have seen what caused the people near me to fall into it, and it wasn't some welfare crisis.
The number 1 reason I experienced is because some social circles fetishized it. It was a very cool, tough, and a superior lifestyle. Anyone who didn't do drugs was a loser, drugs were for winners.
When there is a strong cultural-current of this attitude, it can draw people in and ruin their lives by the time they realize it's all wrong.
I've seen some of this as well, though through my own anecdotal experience people in my life I've seen struggle with drugs do or did so because:
1. Ongoing health issues they can't afford to resolve. Chronic pain. Mental health issues. Sleep disorders.
or
2. Inability to cope with high levels of stress due to financial insecurity, bad relationships, or loneliness.
I think the cultural attitudes you describe may have some relation to other problems. Most people I've encountered seek escapism when their life experience is poor and they're unable to change their circumstances or unaware of ways to change their circumstances.
I think my point is that it can be both. There is a lot we can do to help in the cases you point out. But I just don’t think the problem is entirely solvable, or even mostly solvable, without changing a destructive sub-culture, which we can’t do in any way I can think of.
At least we are working on things like this vaccine to save lives. That’s something.
The number 1 reason I experienced is because some social circles fetishized it. It was a very cool, tough, and a superior lifestyle. Anyone who didn't do drugs was a loser, drugs were for winners.
When there is a strong cultural-current of this attitude, it can draw people in and ruin their lives by the time they realize it's all wrong.