Although prescription pain medication is commonly blamed for the “opioid epidemic,” such drugs play a small and shrinking role in deaths involving this category of psychoactive substances. A recent study of opioid-related deaths in Massachusetts underlines this crucial point, finding that prescription analgesics were detected without heroin or fentanyl in less than 17 percent of cases. Furthermore, just 1 percent of decedents had prescriptions for the opioids that showed up in toxicology tests.
— Read on reason.com/2020/01/23/people-rarely-die-after-using-opioids-prescribed-for-them/

As someone with chronic pain, I used to follow this more closely. After having my pain med(Vicodin, which isn’t an opioid) because of Jeff Sessions’ going after doctors prescribing pain medications, I gave up. One reason why you see me posting often, online. I’m in pain daily, because I cannot get anything prescribed, and I won’t do illegal drugs. I’m hoping that my state will at least lift the ban on Kratom, but for now I am trying a higher dose of CBD tablets. I’m tired of trying things that don’t work, though.