A person who does not NEED opiods to live the rest of their life, do they?
Depends how you define what it means to live your life.
Living in constant pain and suffering is no way to live.
A large portion of suicides throughout the world are attributed to chronic pain and suffering for which the deceased was unable to find relief.
It's very sad that countless people are suffering from chronic pain needlessly.
Many of them have not been provided with an adequate level of relief because of the controversial nature of the drugs required (narcotics/opioids) to treat such severe pain.
Doctors fear losing their license to practice, and also prosecution from law enforcement for over-prescribing opioids.
When I was very ill at one point, my own doctor told me that he knew I was in a lot of pain, but that he's worried about being arrested by the cops for over-prescribing. That's when I decided to self-medicate myself with prescription opioids bought off the black market, as well as Heroin once I found a reliable, trustworthy dealer and realized it was cheaper (but still much more expensive than the cost of a prescription).