I&#x27;m not saying it.  National organisations are saying it - Public Health England (part of government); the Faculty of Pain Medicine (part of the Royal College of Anaesthetists); NICE (The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, a non-departmental public body) all say it.  So, unusually, do the CDC: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.cdc.gov&#x2F;vitalsigns&#x2F;opioid-prescribing&#x2F;index.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.cdc.gov&#x2F;vitalsigns&#x2F;opioid-prescribing&#x2F;index.html</a><p>If they were effective and if addiction could be safely managed you wouldn&#x27;t see increasing rates of people addicted, taking dangerous amounts, and dying of overdose. <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.theguardian.com&#x2F;us-news&#x2F;2016&#x2F;mar&#x2F;17&#x2F;cdc-guidelines-against-prescribing-opioids" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.theguardian.com&#x2F;us-news&#x2F;2016&#x2F;mar&#x2F;17&#x2F;cdc-guideline...</a><p>People take opiates because doctors inappropriately prescribe them (in some countries); because the word &quot;opiate&quot; is well known; because people reject other treatments; and because people stick to the med they know.  That&#x27;s why co-proxamol (and very dangerous, ineffective medication, is still being prescribed today even though there are many other better meds).<p>They continue taking them, at massive doses, because they&#x27;re addicted.  And that&#x27;s the problem - if they were addicted but getting pain relief we could understand the continued use of opioids as first line treatment, but most people don&#x27;t get good pain control with opiates for long term pain. They end up having to mix different meds, these combinations are often dangerous. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.theguardian.com&#x2F;science&#x2F;2014&#x2F;dec&#x2F;09&#x2F;us-patients-opiate-painkillers-prescribed-dangerous-drug-cocktails" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.theguardian.com&#x2F;science&#x2F;2014&#x2F;dec&#x2F;09&#x2F;us-patients-...</a>