Editor, Gazette-Journal:

I read with much interest and some anger, or maybe I should say with some interest and much anger, your article on the opioid epidemic (“Mathews not immune to opioid epidemic,” page 11B, June 29 Gazette-Journal). Your article was well written and informative.

My issue is with the focus of your article, a focus that seems to be shared by all reporters, newscasters and legislators these days. According to the CDC, one in four opioid users become addicted and they are the people that everyone seems to focus on. When is anyone going to focus on and stand up for the majority … the three in four that do not abuse their opioids … the three in four that are mostly chronic pain patients and depend on these drugs to improve their quality of life? Yet, due to the crackdown on opioid prescriptions, it has become practically impossible for us to obtain these medications.

I am a chronic pain patient. I have used Vicodin for 15 years. When I first...