From Pain to Possibility: Ending the Opioid Crisis with Targeted, Non-Addictive Pain Tech
By Alexander Ziwahatan Founder, Omnithion | Candidate for Governor of Oregon A Nation in Pain Chronic pain is one of the most common and costly health challenges in the world. In the United States alone, more than 50 million people suffer from pain that lasts longer than three months. For many, it’s not just discomfort — it’s a daily battle that shapes every decision, limits every movement, and shadows every hope for a normal life. For decades, the standard medical answer has been opioid painkillers. They work — at first. But they also carry a devastating risk: addiction. Since 1999, the opioid epidemic has claimed over 500,000 lives in the U.S. alone. That’s not a statistic — it’s a generation of mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, friends, and colleagues gone too soon. Behind each number is a family changed forever. The Failure of “Manage, Not Solve” Here’s the uncomfortable truth: the majority of our current pain management system doesn’t actually solve pain — it suppresses...