I read the first paragraph of this article and I already think it sucks. If heroin was fully legalized, zero restrictions, we’d be much better off than the current situation we have right now with the war on drugs, fentanyl analogs, and xylazine. Full stop.

Who is this author and why is he so ignorant of the past few decades of opiate problems in the US?

The author is Paul Krugman, a little known economist, writes for the papers I think.