yeah the crack era came out of nowhere too. but that's the thing, crack just popped up and people didn't really know how bad you could get strung out on the shit, it originally had a reputation as a party drug like coke has always been, so people weren't aware of how quick you could get in too deep. nowadays its easy to see where opiate addiction will get you and it's never anywhere good.

i also hate to blame music but you can't deny the influence is there. lot of rappers talk about prescription drugs. future has a song called "perkys calling" lol. if that doesn't sound like the epitome of some fiend shit idk what does. i'm not a conspiracy theorist but part of me feels like some of this is by design. where crack made kids wild, unpredictable and prone to violence, these new drugs are just turning them into weak zombies. some of these kids livers and kidneys will be toast before they hit 25.