> You express this concern as if we haven't had decades of relentless - and insanely disproportionate - demonization of these meds. I don't think it's dispropo

> You express this concern as if we haven't had decades of relentless - and insanely disproportionate - demonization of these meds. I don't think it's disproportionate at all. These drugs can be extremely helpful for some, and they can be life ruining for others. There were > 80,000 deaths in the USA from opioids in 2022, including > 14,000 from prescription opioids. Those numbers are specifically for deaths, but many more are struggling with addiction as a result of their usage. If we can invent a superior class of pain relievers in the future with a lower potential for dependency, and perhaps less recreational appeal as well, it would save quite a lot of lives. > It ignores the med is consistently effective and enables functionality. Omitting those details increases the alarm factor in your presentation and it sacrifices the nuances of our actual reality. I never ignored effectiveness. I have no doubt that taking the ambien helps your friend sleep, or that opiates treat your other friend's pain well. For some, the benefits certainly outweigh the negatives, and as I said previously, I wish all the best for your friends. > You keep mischaracterizing my points, severely. This could be reasonably interpreted as bad faith on your part. However, I don't believe you're acting in bad faith. I'm not acting in bad faith. I genuinely believe that doctors should be cautious when prescribing those drugs, and that the public should be well educated about the risks of those medications. I think that if you take a step back and remember that hundreds of thousands of people have died from these drugs in a completely preventable tragedy, you might concede that it's not an "insanely disproportionate demonization" but rather an understandable reaction to a public danger.