You may have a point here but it's hard to know without more context. For example: why only OxyContin/oxycodone listed here? oxycontin was still a fairly new drug in 2002. Also there are numerous other opioids available, many of those "new pills" might have been replacing other opioids. Also you seem to completely rule out the possibility that there was untreated or under treated pain out there (which I strongly suspect is the case).

Again I'm not saying you're wrong, just that it's not possible to know from the context in your post alone.