See my post below; I think this is due to a.) a misunderstanding of the nature of happiness (a thought that chemically-induced happiness is different from “regular” happiness… which is also chemical), b.) a feeling that opium is incredibly dangerous (as it can be), and c.) a misunderstanding of how opium makes you feel—people can say “I know opium makes you happy” without actually feeling/knowing that it does so. That is, their mental picture of how they’d feel if they smoked opium doesn’t correspond to the reality, which is—for most people—that it makes them feel much, much better than they would have imagined.
See my post below; I think this is due to a.) a misunderstanding of the nature of happiness (a thought that chemically-induced happiness is different from “regular” happiness… which is also chemical), b.) a feeling that opium is incredibly dangerous (as it can be), and c.) a misunderstanding of how opium makes you feel—people can say “I know opium makes you happy” without actually feeling/knowing that it does so. That is, their mental picture of how they’d feel if they smoked opium doesn’t correspond to the reality, which is—for most people—that it makes them feel much, much better than they would have imagined.