Most use painkillers as prescribed

I appreciate The Gazette for depicting the other side of the opioid issue.

A few years ago I had intense pain for a couple of weeks following dental implant surgery. I'm not sure what I would have done had it not been for hydrocodone. I used it responsibly, didn't drive when I was on it, then discarded it when the pain abated enough to use a non-narcotic. And this is what most people do.

Call me callous, but another's addiction is not my problem. Indeed I would argue that the callous ones are the anti-opioid crowd who wants to deny these suffering people featured in your article pain relief just because others abuse these drugs. Maybe the anti-opioid do-gooders should work toward banning cars because there are those who use them to commit vehicular homicide.

Jim McNeish

Iowa City