I find it amazing that the opioid epidemic we are experiencing is somehow a new phenomenon. The poppy has been used medicinally for thousands of years. Morphine, the active ingredient, was isolated from the poppy around 1804. Merck began commercial marketing of morphine in 1827. Opioids derived from opium such as heroin followed and semisynthetic and synthetic later. From the start, the addictive qualities of these opioids was known to all, especially the medical community. How the hell did all these prescriptions get written and filled?