Our drugs - their medicine

I read an article in the New York Times about the dilemma of narcotics: the rich countries are full of medical and entertaining narcotics, whilst the poor countries that are in a big need of them, do not have enough. In places like Uganda, thousands of cancer and AIDS victims are suffering severe pain, because no narcotics are available. On the other hand, narcotics used for entertainment, such as opium and heroin, are produced in these poor countries for the demanding consumers in the rich countries. I guess my main point is to inform people about this ironic situation that the rich people are using the poor countries’ narcotics for entertainment, while the narcotics should be used in the poor countries for their citizens. Just a brief look at the NYT’s map, shows the misallocation of the narcotics. How can more of the narcotics be in countries where they are not needed as much? Whether it is the sense of “otherness” or something else that makes people in rich countries use these drugs for amusement, I think it is important to really prioritize the use of narcotics in the world.