I think this TED Talk did a great job of describing why this is such a huge issue, and how people get into the state of addiction https://www.ted.com/talks/travis_rieder_the_agony_of_opioid_...

What you're doing is incredibly inspiring. I have a friend who ha to kick their morphine addiction alone when the medical system wouldn't support anything other than continued medication.

I can only assume your girlfriends name was Ophelia. What an incredible tribute to her memory.