I think stress, pain, and depression pushes people towards taking substances that offer temporary relief. Unfortunately, many of these substances such as drugs cause even more suffering.

We can look at what is causing people to turn to drugs in the first place. For example, tackling poverty should also reduce the rate people turn to drugs and prevent them from getting addicted in the first place. Of course, tackling poverty is not something that can be done overnight. We would need to understand the causes of poverty as well.