Prescribing opioids in the US is heavily monitored and scrutinized now. Doctors (and NPs, of which my mother is one) have to document the justification, meet state law restrictions, verify the prescription drug monitoring checks with their state, and complete the EHR workflows[†] before they can send in the prescription. There are more checks after that too that the pharmacist has to complete, and the insurance company will have oversight checks they'll do as well.

Not saying people can't or won't get addicted to the drugs prescribed by doctors, but there's a lot more checks and oversight to it (these days) than there is for kratom right now.

[†] At least in my mother's case, their EHR system will also flag opioid prescriptions for review by a board.

Suboxone is regulated quite a bit differently than full agonist opioids despite being a massively powerful drug. One can get a prescription online via Telemedicine for $100 and a 3 minute visit in almost all 50 states. This was started around covid to help mitigate the opiod crisis and lower barriers to access. Suboxone is CIII instead of CII like many opioids and used to have special prescribing requirements requiring a class, patient limits, etc but those have been lifted.

It may be a lifesaving/life-changing drug for many but it is also potent enough for a single dose to put a non-tolerant user in the dirt and is abusable for non-tolerant users just as any other opiod. It has been popular as a street drug in Europe for example for decades.

Checking on Quick.md, a Telemedicine service that prescribed Suboxone it is indicated for folks who are addicted to fentanyl, heroin, opiod pharmaceuticals and kratom/7OH. If you are not opiod tolerant you can put yourself in a coma today for $100 + pharmacy fees. No need to prove dependancy with a positive drug test, no therapy, nothing.