Americans taking Valium for pain?

This one is a little strange.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-6659145/Huge-rise-Americans-taking-anxiety-drug-Valium-PAIN-amid-crackdown-opioid-prescriptions.htmlH

It says mostly for back pain, so I'm assuming they are used as muscle relaxers.

I think is probably the reason also.

Also, if someone is injured, they can be in a lot of pain, can’t sleep, can’t relax, and are upset.

Perhaps, these are other reasons.

Opioids are the focus right now in medicine and the news.  This looks like it's a bit of a (DailyMail) spin on the JAMA Network open study we've been discussing (links below) although the authors discuss their increased use in relation to increasing opioid overdoses too.

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=217161.0

More related stories:

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=217478.0

They mention the increase is primarily from primary care physicians and speculate it might be due to benzos as a "safer" alternative to opioids in the primary care setting.