Opioids are a broad class of controlled medications which are typically prescribed for the short-term relief of chronic pain1, 2. The most commonly prescribed group of medications in the US, opioids act on specific receptors in the brain to produce analgesia (pain relief) and euphoria3, 4.
While opioids have been proven to be very effective in certain painful conditions for which they are prescribed, like most drugs they are not without side effects and other consequences:
