During the 19th century, the Qing Chinese empire was being torn apart by taxes and regulations which were causing economic depressions and insurrections. Many Chinese subjects were using opium in order to escape their depressed lives. The Qing government blamed their problems on the opium trade and sought to abolish it to revive the economy.
Printing money, taxes, and regulations concentrate wealth in the hands of the ruling elite. Just as the Qing did, the USA can blame our economic depression on opiates or we can acknowledge that opiate use is a direct consequence of depression caused by the ruling elite.