In one case, a guy (or woman) undergoes surgery or otherwise experiences severe physical pain (e.g. back pain) and is prescribed pain killers by their physician.....eventually getting hooked on them.
In the other case, someone starts using heavy drugs (whatEVER their 'reason'......but don't tell me it isn't 'recreational'; I'm old enough to know better), and continues to use illegal drugs, often committing crimes to support the habit.
.....and you see no difference whatsoever?
No. There is no difference. The reason for the original addiction is irrelevant. The problems caused by the addiction and the problems of ovecoming the addiction are the same regardless of how someone became addicted. The issue is whether the person is facing the problem.
What you are saying is that its okie dokie for someone to ruin their life and destroy their relationships with their loved ones because they got addicted while beign treated for surgery rather than getting addicted by choice. That is nonsense.