While that is a good point, there are many other frequently prescribed drugs with shorter rx periods - antibiotics, benzodiazipines, sleep medication, emergency

While that is a good point, there are many other frequently prescribed drugs with shorter rx periods - antibiotics, benzodiazipines, sleep medication, emergency medications like inhalers and Epi pens to name a few. If you look at the list of most commonly prescribed drugs¹, opioids aren't even in the top 15, which makes that statistic even more concerning, albeit obvious in hindsight. 1: https://clincalc.com/DrugStats/Top300Drugs.aspx https://clincalc.com/DrugStats/Top300Drugs.aspx