One Opioid Crisis or Many?

US news media headlines appear daily on the so-called “opioid crisis”. A major thread in public policy discussions is an asserted need to “solve” the crisis by limiting production of opioid analgesics and reducing medical exposure to potentially addicting drugs. But are such steps actually a remedy? Will US addiction and overdose problems respond favorably to such a one-size-fits-all policy? Almost certainly not.