I used oxycodone for a week after breaking my leg, and hydrocodone for two following my surgery. Having just quit smoking, I can recognize the familiar way that substances pull at your thoughts. It's different, but not that different. I've used less opiates than most in my situation (based on "research" of some collected anecdotal evidence) and I've had a few stone-cold, honest to god cravings. That's fucking terrifying, and it prompted me to go cold turkey sooner than my doctor expected me to. Someone else would be addicted right now. Opiates aren't a fucking joke, and in my opinion this guy deserves more than the sentence they've given him.
I've been offered opiates at least once a month for the past 18 months. I can't fucking stand it. My body LOVES morphine. So much so that I tell them not to give it to me. Unless I'm having a procedure where I have to be sedated I don't allow myself narcotics anymore.
I'm really healthy. I've never broken a bone. Never had major surgery (except for a hernia at 6 months old). And only ever got stitches once... when I had a vasectomy: I got two stitches. But I am honestly scared of that craving you describe. If I ever get seriously ill, or need major surgery, the opioids worry me. I like drugs. I've done a lot of MDMA and mushrooms in my life, and have enjoyed LSD several times. But those are recreational and non-addictive. Experiencing that craving for a drug would terrify me, as well. I hope never to experience it. Congratulations to you on recognizing it, and turning away from it so powerfully.
However much I want to front as an eidolon of willpower, I can't say for sure how I would have handled that craving without the support and transparency between me and my family. They've been caring for me since the surgery, and the accountability to my parents is a huge factor in summoning the willpower - I wasn't just doing it for myself. I also don't know how I would've done if I hadn't just quit smoking. I have a feeling it'd be easier to develop another addiction if I was still embroiled in another.