Most people given these pain-killers will go through withdrawal but will never want or need the drug again.

Therapeutic pain-killers (such as morphine) produce a high rate of “addiction”. Actually, since we know that “addiction” is actually “dependence” as defined by DSM, we now know that the likelihood of becoming dependent on opioid pain-killers is actually quite low. Where the confusion comes in is when people erroneously believe that “withdrawal” is synonymous with “addiction”. (Withdrawal is also known as “physiological dependence” – confusing enough?) Most people given these pain-killers will go through withdrawal but will never want or need the drug again.