Addiction affects about 26 percent of those using opioids for chronic non-cancer pain; 1 in 550 patients on opioid therapy dies from opioid-related causes within 2.5 years of their first prescription.

In 2014, prescription drug overdoses, a majority of which involved some type of opioid, killed more Americans than car crashes (49,714 compared to 32,675).

There are safer ways to tackle pain. It is simply due to uneducated health care, that we are using opioids as our primary painkiller.

Opioids should NEVER be used for anyone who has a history with addiction, as it is one of the most difficult meds to wean off of and super deadly at that.

Reference: Forbes 2016: Drugs Are Killing More Americans Than Road Crashes