Opioids ruin lives. Opioids restore lives. People die from taking them. People are functionally dead when they're unobtainable.
The most false thing about opioids is that they are any one thing.
I've used hydrocodone for months at a time. It's addictive so there are protocols that need to be followed. Stick with the dose and taper when done. However, that was in the past. For severe pain, legal pain relief is no longer available - to me and to millions of others.
My state now has a hard 3 day limit and few Dr.s are willing to write even that. What has become routine everywhere is being Rx'd Tylenol for moderate to severe post-op surgical pain. I personally had to beg for tramadol following abdominal surgery. I recently had to enter into a protracted negotiation with my Dr - again, for tramadol - so I could exercise and get a little more life out of my failing knees.
The pendulum has swung way too far and the number of lives that are being ruined by that is nearly incalculable.