Since the crackdown, now that it's almost impossible to get opioids, the deaths aren't going down, they're going up. The addicts are addicts whether or not it's easy to get painkillers from doctors, they just buy them illegally and they're contaminated purposely with fentanyl to make them cheaper, stronger, more addictive, and deadly.

Those pharmaceutical companies are pieces of shit, don't get me wrong, but the narrative that they create junkies is very overstated. It's estimated only 8-10% of people abuse their prescriptions, and that doesn't mean they're all addicts, just they're not following the directions.

What the pharmaceutical companies do have is lots of money, and junkies cost the state a lot. It doesn't make the news how many counties and states are suing right now to recoup that money from clinics, hospitals, and pharma they claim are responsible for over prescribing opiates.

The system now, doctors and organization have a quota. Exceedingly it triggers an automatic review from the DEA and doctors can lose their DEA numbers, their ability to prescribe controlled substances. So, unsurprisingly, they've gone from overprescribing to underprescribing.

People are suffering, I'm suffering. If tylenol and advil aren't cutting it, there are a few other things to try but they usually aren't as effective as opiates. And that's hurting people in chronic pain and people who need surgery. And despite this suffering, we're not saving lives.