I ran a small water company, 300 homes, for 30 years. I read their meters. I had a good relationship with everyone. Three confided in me that they were hooked. One in his Fifties, two in their Eighties! Oxycontin.
My ex wife was hooked for 5 years. She dried out, but was never the same. Shell of a person. Awful.
When the doc prescribed OxyContin to my dad about 10 years ago he stated that it doesn’t matter if he gets addicted, he’ll need it forever anyway (severe back/leg pain, nerve damage etc). What the doc failed to mention is how it messes with you. One thing is that you go through a withdrawal period as you approach the next dose: every single day. Your body always craves more, you might take it a bit earlier or a bit more then when you run out a day or two before you can refill, you go through the hell of withdrawal for 24-48 hours.
After seeing what prescription painkillers have done to him, I would suffer before taking anything. I even turned down pain meds after a c-section. It has made his suffering worse, not better-the pain is still there and he is addicted to the meds.
Just how do the 80-year olds obtain it?