Smokers Account For 69% Of Annual Prescription Opioid Use

About 69% of opioids prescriptions are for people who smoke tobacco. About 37% of the United States population smokes tobacco. Heavy smokers, who make up just 12% of the population, use as many prescription opioids as the 63% of the population that has never smoked.

Smokers report higher rates of chronic pain and severe work limitations due to pain and poor mental health. Those with chronic pain during the year varied from 12.2% for adults who never smoked to 14.2% for light smoking, to 16.5% for those smoking more than a pack a day. Severe work limitations . . .