Forever.
I disagree that opiates are not a good choice for short-term pain relief, and I also disagree that they are not a good choice for long-term pain relief.
If anything, pain is currently being under treated on a massive scale thanks to the new-wave crusaders against opiates, flying a flag of the same type of study they decry as flashy science only meant to gun for the headlines as proof undeniable.
There will always be opiate abuse. A moral backlash against abuse should not deny people in pain the quality-of-life increase they can get in return from opiates. Dependency be damned.
>Long term pain control is a complicated and multi facaded beast. We need to invest in it.
I do agree with this.
>"Just take a pill" is clearly not the solution that works.
It's the solution we have right now, though.
My grandparents, bless them, couldn't function without narcotic painkillers. without narcotics, there is no quality-of-life to speak of for them, and for a lot of people like them. Dependency be damned.
Until something as affordable and available as opiates come around, that can give them equipotent pain relief, traditional poppy derivatives can and should be used to treat pain in those who live each day in pain. Tolerance be damned.