Opiod abuse is no joke and they are about as addictive as prescription drugs get, and yet the abuse rate is something like 50% in developed Western countries (Abuse ranging from taking them slightly longer than you're supposed to, to taking more than your prescribed dose all the way to crushing and injecting).
There are many millions of people who take opiods and don't get addicted or abuse them in any negatively impactful way.
Your comment is based on a personal bias and in no way based on medical fact. There are many types of pain that only opiods can treat. We absolutely need more options that are as powerful and less addictive.
The mechanism for addiction is well understood, but what we don't understand is why some people can take opiods, even extremely powerful ones and don't become drug fiends.
I am sitting here with two 250ml bottles of Morphine next to my bed, there is nothing stopping me from drinking it all. I know how it makes me feel, I know it eases my depression, removes my pain, clears my mind and calms my anxiety, I have restful sleep when I take it right before bed and yet I have never taken it when I didn't need to, never increased the dose, in fact I often take a lower dose than prescribed and sometimes don't take it as scheduled and subject myself to some of the pain until it reaches a point where I require relief, my goal is not to completely escape all pain, all the time, I like to remind myself that i am in control and that I'm not afraid of the pain and that experiencing 'some' pain is not a bad thing.
However, I have seen all the documentaries and dramatisations and accounts of people who do the complete opposite. Perhaps it's because I have taken Ritalin for most of my life and am used to the sensations of cravings, perhaps it's because I don't drink alcohol and don't smoke, I do not have any addictive tendencies whatsoever (unless we're talking about chocolate!), maybe it's genetics, maybe it's socioeconomic, but for sure, for me in any case opioids have vastly and dramatically improved my quality of life and I'm grateful that we have such drugs available. Obviously there is work to be done on education, monitoring and support. I wonder if the opioid crisis is so bad in the US because of the private system and lack of coordinated care between specialists and clinics as well as lax pharmacy monitoring.