According to the WHO, every man has the right to dissolution from pain, which is a step towards reducing human suffering and preserving human dignity. Opioid analgesics are medicines used in the treatment of moderate to severe pain and are indicated in non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic pain, especially in palliative care. They act on opioid receptors, mimicking endogenous endorphins, which means they inhibit the descending pathway of response to pain. The main side effects to take into account are respiratory depression, nausea, vomiting and constipation. In every patient, among other inter-individual differences, it is important to monitor liver and kidney function and to reduce the doses of these drugs as necessary. Individualization of drug treatment is a modern approach in pharmacotherapy and it also refers to the optimization of opioid analgesic therapy in each patient separately. All opioids can develop dependence and tolerance. Therefore, patients on chronic opioid therapy should be closely monitored and provided with information on treatment, assistance in removal from opioid therapy and advice on the rotation of opioid medication in case of tolerance development. The use of short-acting opioid analgesics with immediate action for acute purposes is becoming a growing public health problem due to the potential of generating new addicts and it is necessary to better the limitations of their prescribing and issuance. In pharmacies, opioid abuse is sought to be limited by holding opioids in safes, issuing double recipes, keeping a register of narcotics and with taking an opioid medicine only by the presentation of an ID card. Opioid abuse can also be reduced by the prescription of long-acting pharmaceutical forms that do not satisfy the needs of addicts for rapid drug action. Reducing the fear of prescribing and dispensing opioids is achieved in a number of ways. The most significant ones are: constant upgrading of various guidelines for opioid therapy, the reinforcement of the protocol on opioid use and further improvement of the knowledge of healthcare professionals. Great importance is also put on proper counselling for patients on opioid therapy.