Opioids work wonders for chronic pain, the downside being obvious, but when used responsibly they are a lifesaver.
Lurk any chronic pain support group and you will find hundreds of people terrified of going back to the dark ages before opioids. Over-enforcement of the epidemic is real and doing damage to already damaged people.
That's because opioids remain the single most effective pain treatment that humans have available. People have been using them for 4000+ years, they have a long track record of efficacy (and safety).
Managing pain with opioids is not much different than managing diabetes with insulin. I realize the media mania and moral panic doesn't convey that because it doesn't fit the hype narrative, but there is a huge difference between medical patients and drug abusers.
Lurk any chronic pain support group and you will find hundreds of people terrified of going back to the dark ages before opioids. Over-enforcement of the epidemic is real and doing damage to already damaged people.