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50 million Americans suffer medical conditions that cause chronic and severe pain. Many people will have illnesses or injuries that cause severe pain for limited periods of time.

The 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health reported 97 million Americans were prescribed pain medications.

Reports that Americans use 80% of opiates prescribed worldwide are inaccurate. Americans use approximately 30% of opiates  prescribed worldwide. Some medications that are prescription only in the U.S. are over-the-counter in other countries, for example  acetaminophen and codeine in Canada.

Of the approximate 2019 world population of 7.7 billion people, 5.5 billion have no access to opiate pain medications.

Among reported U.S. opiate deaths, 70% included one or more other drugs. The most commonly-found additional drugs were benzodiazepines - a category that can be deadly whether or not used with other drugs.