You make an excellent point where people in real pain will not benefit from not using these drugs. And yes, they will get a person 'high' for a bit until that person settles into a drug regiment. Soon, all the pain killers will do is allow people to function as normal as possible. Of course, there will always those even with legitimate pain that will want that 'high' to last forever. The responsible people with a real need just want to feel and act normal.

This is the most drug regulated country in the world.

You can even buy a Canadian pain killer called 222 that I think has 30mgs of codeine. I have read some posts of people just walking in and buying it like regular asprine from Walmarts!.

In this country, you need a prescription for just about anything. This is the most regulated country that I know of.