I (non-US) am on (up to) 8 per day, or 2920 per year. To get an average of ~42 pills per year (250/6), it only requires 1 in 70 to be on a similar regime (2920/

I (non-US) am on (up to) 8 per day, or 2920 per year. To get an average of ~42 pills per year (250/6), it only requires 1 in 70 to be on a similar regime (2920/70 ~= 42). Given that 8% of American adults have high-impact chronic pain (frequently limits life or work activities)[1], that doesn't sound that excessive. Sanity check: 19.6 million people * 4 pills per day * 6 years ~= 172bn pills. That's over _double_ the actual number, suggesting high-impact chronic pain sufferers are, on average, only taking 2 pills per day. [1] https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/67/wr/mm6736a2.htm https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/67/wr/mm6736a2.htm Edit: I overlooked that this only covers oxycodone and hydrocodone, and not the other opioids, but as they account for 3/4 of the total opioid pill shipments[2], it doesn't change the picture much (76bn * 4/3 ~= 101bn, which is still well under the number I posited above). That's not to say there isn't an issue with diversion, but in terms of raw numbers, it doesn't seem excessive. [2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/investigations/dea-pain-pill-database/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/investigations/...