This is an easy question to answer about opioid crisis posed by journalist at Politico.

[zanana1]

2. Chronic pain...

I took opioids for three years for serious, sometimes excruciating pain. I had tried other treatments that did not work. For a year, I was prescribed medications that were non-narcotic. It got to a point where all I could do was sit. When I started taking Oxy, the burden was lifted and I could do things that "normal" people did.
When opioid dependence hit the front page, I was told I had to get off the Oxy. It was a long, slow process but It didn't kill me.
I've been just sitting ever since. I don't miss the supposed "high" of Oxy, but I miss the release it afforded me. My life right now seems pointless.
WE NEED MORE RESEARCH FOR PAIN RELIEVING DRUGS!