US doctors began prescribing many more opioids after a campaign by the VA describing pain as the 5th vital sign. Doctors began having to ask people about pain, which meant they had to treat that pain. The VA also said that opioids are not addictive when used to treat pain. They're not so addictive when used to treat acute pain, but they're more addictive when used to treat chronic pain. Very many more people got opioids to treat chronic pain because of this campaign.
https://www.va.gov/PAINMANAGEMENT/docs/Pain_As_the_5th_Vital...
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1924634/
> It's an extremely complex and difficult problem. I think doctors are taking too much of the blame.
A lot of americans get opioids from doctors.
https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/data/prescribing.html
> An estimated 1 out of 5 patients with non-cancer pain or pain-related diagnoses are prescribed opioids in office-based settings
> However, primary care providers account for about half of opioid pain relievers dispensed.
Some states have between 93 and 143 opioid prescriptions per 100 people!!