The opioid business is only a subset of the analgesic business. If this forces pharma companies to target their research on non-addictive painkillers, that’s a good thing.
Non-addictive? The elderly commonly receive opioids. They are not addicted to them, only physically dependent. You can get physically dependent on almost all medications, even, say, beta-blockers or proton-pump inhibitors.
There is nothing wrong with opioids, we do not need a replacement. The issue stems from questionable products from the black market. Plus, why should we ban X or look for a replacement of Y just because there are people who consume it recklessly? This hurts everyone, and is a terrible "solution". If anything, we need harm reduction policies. I would rather not deprive people from the legal access of effective painkillers because some reckless people overdosed on them. There will always be reckless people. Always. This is not a reason to hurt innocent and non-reckless people.
Europe seems to manage this fine. There are plenty of companies manufacturing opioids, and they are widely available for people with severe pain.
But companies are not allowed to advertise them. Same rules as we have for cigarettes and politicians, and it completely bypasses the question of whether a given advert is biased / truthful.
Only OTC medications seem to be advertised here in Eastern Europe. This includes NSAIDs. They are more harmful than opioids due to the risk of virtually everything, such as: myocardial infarction, stroke, erectile dysfunction, gastric ulceration/bleeding, kidney failure (incl. hypertension). They also cause raised liver enzymes, and so on.
None of the aforementioned side-effects exist for opioids. The only major concern is constipation (especially in the elderly), nausea, aaaaand euphoria. Yes. That is it. Respiratory depression and other severe adverse effects are not really an issue if you are taking therapeutic doses, especially if taken orally. If you are taking it intravenously, then you are properly under medical supervision anyway. There is a reason for why the elderly usually receive opioids instead of NSAIDs. It is more effective, and it has a better safety profile. The issue is with questionable products with adulterants and unknown purity. Harm reduction policies, and the end on the War on Drugs can improve the situation tremendously. Portugal is a great example of this.
There is nothing wrong with opioids, we do not need a replacement. The issue stems from questionable products from the black market. Plus, why should we ban X or look for a replacement of Y just because there are people who consume it recklessly? This hurts everyone, and is a terrible "solution". If anything, we need harm reduction policies. I would rather not deprive people from the legal access of effective painkillers because some reckless people overdosed on them. There will always be reckless people. Always. This is not a reason to hurt innocent and non-reckless people.