> I'm also viciously dismissive now of any legislation or practices that limit controlled substances. I'm not an addict and I shouldn't be punished for other pe

> I'm also viciously dismissive now of any legislation or practices that limit controlled substances. I'm not an addict and I shouldn't be punished for other peoples acts. I find myself agreeing with this. Opiate overuse and addiction is certainly a problem, but I also question some of the negativity I see regarding their use (from a UK perspective). I was on tramadol (200mg/day) for about six months, and was told, by my consultant, that coming off them "will be worse than quitting heroin". I just stopped taking them, and saw no ill effects. I've twice been on codeine (240mg/day) for around 8-12 months, and was given similar, albeit less severe, warnings about withdrawal. In both cases, there were no side effects upon stopping. I have to wonder if such warnings make withdrawal symptoms more likely through the nocebo effect[1]. They certainly have been misused in many ways, but they also have their place and make long-term pain much easier to deal with. [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3352765/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3352765/