That wouldn't even be hyperbole, that's still just factual, with an emotionally loaded comparison. Hyperbole would be like, "painkillers kill a trillion people a year!"

It affects a lot of people yes. It's also a big problem. It's the juxta that's done in a fashion to get clicks. The article is also rather light on details.

The juxta bothers me because Rx drugs are a necessity as judged by physicians, it's not a lark. Illegal drugs on the other hand are not prescribed, for the most part, and are a different issue altogether. They address perhaps other pains, but conflating them in this sense seems dishonest.

It seems you are not catching the point of the article. Did you read? The problem is addiction and people turning to illegal drugs after becoming addicted to legal RX.