This was definitely still happening as late as 2011, I had a friend who spent two weeks basically nodding off because of the amount of opioids they were given after a routine wisdom tooth removal.

They are scarily strong.

A few years ago. I woke up vomiting and in extreme pain. Housemate drove me to 24 hour clinic. I was stuck in waiting room for hour or so. Eventually I got to see doctor. Clinic was not really confidant they knew what was wrong with me and told my housemate to take me to the hospital. I was stuck for another hour or two in waiting room at hospital all the while in extreme pain and vomiting.

I was diagnosed with a kidney stone and I was given a morphine drip. Almost immediately I was out like a light I don't even remember drifting off - scarily strong stuff I went from worst pain of my life to sleeping like a baby.

Same here (2008-2010). That shit made me sick and it only helped for like an hour anyways (0hr: took pill; 1hr: pain relief + nausea; 2-3hr: pain resurgence; 6hr: take another; rinse, repeat.). I stopped taking it after a day. I can appreciate its usefulness for chronic conditions, but damn, it's criminal how many I was prescribed in retrospect.

I generally don't get headaches, not even from drinking too much, but i remember clearly the day after i stopped taking those damn things having The Worst Headache Of My Life.

Looking back, what a blessing that was. Haven't taken another opiate since. Never will.

Remember this comment when you need serious surgery. Maybe you will come to understand how limited your understanding of pain is.

You're not entirely wrong, but you may also have a similarly limited understanding, having never been completely in thrall to an addiction. I know many recovering addicts who have white-knuckled through recovery-from-surgery (including blunt trauma from a propeller, partial hip replacement, and major oral surgery) in order to preserve their freedom from (what they described as) the intense suffering that failing to continue their recovery-from-addiction would entail.

We are all allowed to have different subjective experiences. Nobody is "wrong" here.

You would have become like the friend who bought them, I guess.