Hey Van, funny you mention this as I remember reading on another forum back when that Don liked to party and was into pain meds. The guy who posted this was a long time poster and said he knew Don. I was going to mention this but decided not to for various reasons until now.
I remember Chad said a lot of guys are in constant pain from Synthol 'collecting in your joints', or some shit. I seem to remember this being in connection with Don passing.
Guys do narcotic pain killers because they like being high (who doesn't), that's my opinion on the matter. At least most of the time, especially when unprescribed.