You are 100% correct. It sounds horrible, but has anyone actually done the math? I did, and it averages out to about 2 pills per day, per person. I don't see the issue here.
Here's how I came to that:
20.8 million, divided by 2900 people = 7,172 pills per person. Spread out over 10 years, that is 717 pills per person per year. Divide that by 365 days, and you get 2 pills per day per person.
This assumes that all 2900 people are on opiods on a full time basis. Not a reasonable assumption.