opioid addiction

In the past week, two Senators questioned a planned study by the FDA on long-acting opioids. They write, “This study is intended to specifically look at the use of EERWs [enrichment enrollment randomized withdrawal] to approve new opioids.” That is not all they got wrong.
Using the criteria contained within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the diagnostic standard, almost 1 in 5 individuals smoking weed for medical therapeutic reasons develop cannabis use disorder within three months of initiating therapy. Yet there is no cry to greatly restrict medical marijuana in the same way we over-control opioids. Whether marijuana or opioids are that addictive depends on your definition of a substance use disorder. Is our current definition the best?
At some point, we're gonna run out of people to deny opioids. What to do?? There are many anti-opioid zealot mouths to feed. New victims are needed. How about cats?
While it remains popular to attribute the opioid‐​related overdose crisis to doctors prescribing pain relievers to patients, the evidence shows there is no correlation between prescription volume and non‐​medical opioid use or opioid use disorder.
Regulations regarding the use of buprenorphine to help with opioid addiction do not hinder care - they are designed to protect patients and train physicians who did not have formal education in addiction management. 
To sports fans, it wasn't even that big of a story when it broke in late July. But for those keeping tabs on the medical machinations of professional football, the retirement of Eugene Monroe -- the NFL's only active player calling for the league to allow marijuana as a pain-reduction option to opioids -- was a noteworthy event.
It is no wonder that the "war on drugs" has been an abject failure. There are multiple reasons. Here's a new one—using sophisticated pharmacology to make the anti-diarrheal drug Imodium into a substitute for heroin. Very clever, but deadly.
An article recently published in the British Journal of Pharmacology discusses the synthesis of a molecule, PnPP-19 and its ability to block pain perception and potentiate erections. So as it turns out, not all spider venom is bad – in fact, it can be pretty great.