It's like in just the last couple of years, suddenly people have been talking about it, and my lame duck governor was cutting public service commercials and there are informational posters in public facilities everywhere.
I think we should take a page from the gun control lobby. If opioids are so dangerous, why don't we simply treat them like weapons, and follow the anti-gun activits' prescription for a safer society?
First, we should outlaw the use of the more dangerous ones outright, like heroin. Heroin is the assault rifle of opioids. No excuse, just flat-out make it illegal. Other opioids, like morphine, which have legitimate uses in society, in the hands of officially sanctioned professionals, should be left to the exclusive use of medical professionals to prescribe. It should be illegal to obtain or use them with a physician's prescription.
Since there are other dangerous drugs besides opioids, maybe we should expand these restrictions to other narcotics and stimulants as well, if they are sufficiently dangerous.
There you have it! Follow these simple rules, and the opioid crisis will be as extinct as gun violence will be, once we subscribe to the disarmament lobby's demands!