Comment by applfanboysbgon
2 hours ago
Addiction doesn't start until you've first started consuming a substance. The means by which you first start consuming alcohol vs. opioids are completely different, and the former is virtually always the result of social environment.
Sure, recreational social interactions tend to be the introduction since it's legal and a common pastime. But such interactions are almost never the primary driver of alcoholism except perhaps in specific college environments where you might reasonably describe the pastime as competitive drinking. That's far from the norm though.
Coincidentally, aside from official prescriptions recreational social interactions are also the primary method of introduction to drugs of all sorts.