Aside from the reality of cancer patients, the elderly and those whose conditions are such that they cannot or should not be driving being subjected to the additional stress of the fear of running out of their medication, it's going to end up costing more money, as providers have to re-authorize prescriptions on a weekly basis - there will be more forms and procedures and it's just going to drive costs up.

Anyone who's had an injury or surgery can tell you that rarely does pain relief and management start with non-opioid medication.  When my mother had her hip replaced, they loaded her up with morphine in recovery and continued to give it to her when she got back to her room.  She, like me, does not respond well to opiates: they tend to nauseate us and give us pounding headaches.  I finally had to convince my mother that since she said the pain from the surgery was less than the pain she had before the replacement, she could refuse the morphine and ask the nurses to give her Tylenol.

When I had a c-section with my second child, my nurse brought another nurse in to show her the patient who didn't want morphine for the post-surgical pain.  I'd finally managed to convince the nurse to let me start with extra-strength Tylenol, and if it wasn't enough, I'd consider something stronger.

When I dislocated and broke my shoulder in 2005, the ER doc and the nurse kept trying to get me to take something strong for the pain - but I'd been given Dilaudid 5 years earlier when I injured the other shoulder, and Fentanyl for conscious sedation, and I hated the way they made me feel - yes, I had pain, but it wasn't so bad that I couldn't deal with it.  In the 2005 incident, I finally agreed to let them give me some Valium so they'd stop pestering me to take the opiates.

So, it seems to me that the medical profession needs education and training on pain relief and management, and should stop reflexively prescribing drugs in quantities and strength out of proportion to the anticipated duration of the need for opiate-based pain relief.  

I believe that studies have shown that most acute pain is short-lived and probably doesn't require more than a week's worth of medication - but those who have chronic, and debilitating, pain need less restrictive protocols to accommodate their particular situations.

As a few minutes of TV watching will instruct, the uses of the prescription drug take half of the commercial, the other half, the side effects..from nausea or, death.  But, when used right, risks can be avoided or minimized.

In the case of morphine (opiods) the scare tactics and dire consequences of medical use outshine the benefits...to the extent that hospice care givers,and, in some cases, the patients, themselves, deny the comfort afforded in pain management, for fear of becoming "addicted."  Morphine does have among its risks dependence and addiction, but some medical, if not common, sense needs to be deployed in use and the avoidance of misuse.

The risks of addiction in the treatment of acute pain are in balance with their value and short term need; and, risks in chronic pain, should be balanced with the patient, cause of pain and life prognosis.  Moreover, a distinction needs to be made between dependence (state of body) and addiction (state of mind).  Chronic pain patients may be more likely to be dependent than addicted. All potent drugs are double edged swords.

The opiod problem, whatever its individualized provenance, is one of abuse...abuse that brings along the side effect of the properties of CNS depression, physical dependence and the compulsion of addiction.

As everyone knows, including Trump from the first hand knowledge of losing his own brother, addiction brings morbidity and mortality.  And, much else along the way, affecting the addict, friends and family.  Accordingly, his warmed over and antiquated program is part of his larger picture of making America great again, as it was in years past.

 "Its really, really easy not to take them." Trump says about opiods.  "His idea" he says, further, is to say no to taking drugs. In fairness, education is a part of it all, but just a part and a small part at that when you understand the impact of the environment for addiction and that the drive to getting high matches or exceeds, the moments of being high. And, of course, drug education is not helpful to those already addicted.

• seattle has nurse-supervised safe drug-injection sites with clean syringes and other supplies.
  
• seattle police are required to carry naloxone and the bicycle patrols, active downtown and in my neighborhood, frequently use it to save people living on the street from overdose.
  
• pharmacies have been issued naloxone kits as have social service workers who deal with addicts.
  
• state law prohibits prosecution of people for drug possession when the are seeking medical assistance and that includes anyone assisting that person or when they have called 911.
  
• the administration of naloxone is covered under the state good-samaritan laws.
  

He's going to limit prescriptions to 7 days supply.

Drug addiction has two components: The feeling the drug induces, and, the ritual of the drug experience/phenomenon. Fixing the first without addressing the second will often lead to ultimate failure. The reason for so much recidivism among addicts having gone through rehab is that they tend to concentrate on only cleansing the body from the drug. The "hole" that's left in the psyche must be addressed if true success is to be achieved.

Now, fixing that psychological "hole" can take many forms. Accepting that it exists is step #1. One way of dealing with it is through psychoanalysis with a trained therapist. The drawback with that, however, is that it can take many years to be successful. The more expedient remedy is to replace one addiction (drugs) with another. And, that can take many, many forms: religion, exercise, sports, any activity that will fill that "hole."

Finally, let's not poo poo the, "just say no," approach, out of hand. It may not be the complete solution, but, if offered smartly, it could be useful for many young folks considering these things. Look at how advertising, "Madison Avenue," has affected youngsters, and, gotten them "addicted" to cosmetics, clothes, entertainment, websites, cell phones, etc. Rather than using a "scolding" approach, why not try suggesting the many things they had hoped to achieve in life, and, which would be unattainable, if they go down the drug addiction road. It worked with me. As a teenager and young adult I had done the usual stuff: MJ, uppers/downers, even mescaline. But, when my father explained to me all about his research on LSD, and, the flashbacks they could produce, that did it for me. I was training for my pilot's license at the time and the last thing I needed, when attempting a night time instrument approach into JFK airport was a flashback. My joy of flying exceeded the fun/thrill of dropping acid.