In a welcome move Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published its first guidelines for doctors dispensing powerful opioid painkillers. The prescriptions — for pills such as Vicodin and OxyContin — have played a central role in the explosion of deadly drug overdoses and addictions gripping this region and the country as a whole.

The CDC guidelines, while non-binding, are a step forward in the effort to blunt this epidemic. And the central tenant of the agency’s message — urging doctors to avoid prescribing powerful opioid painkillers to patients with chronic pain — is long overdue.

The 12 guidelines make exceptions for patients receiving treatments for cancer or end-of-life care. When doctors do determine that the painkillers are necessary in other situations, the agency advised them to prescribe the lowest-possible dose for the shortest amount of time. Essentially, the CDC said, the vast majority of patients should never have access to more than a week’s worth of opioid painkillers at one time.

Given what we know now about how prevalent, addictive and lethal these drugs are, that makes perfect sense. About 40 Americans die every day from overdosing on these painkillers, according to the CDC. In 2013, an estimated 1.9 million people abused or were dependent on prescription opioids. In 2012, doctors handed out 259 million opioid prescriptions — one bottle for every adult in the country. The CDC directed the guidelines to primary care physicians, who prescribe nearly half of the opioids.

The guidelines aren’t binding, and the CDC can’t compel doctors to comply or punish them for disregarding the agency’s advice. So it’s likely that many doctors — concerned about patient satisfaction ratings and demands that they be treated using opioids — will do just that.

But it’s clear that the over-prescription of these drugs must stop — and stop quickly. Only five percent of patients being prescribed opioid painkillers are receiving them for chronic pain, but that five percent accounts for about 70 percent of opioid prescriptions, according to the CDC. More than 70 percent of patients dying of opioid-related overdoses became addicted while being treated for chronic pain.

“We know of no other medication used for non-fatal conditions that kills patients so frequently,” CDC director Tom Frieden told USA Today.

Between 1999 and 2014, more than 165,000 Americans died from overdoses related to opioid pain medication.

The CDC guidelines don’t stop at doctors, either. The agency also wants patients to start asking more questions if they’re being prescribed opioids for chronic pain. In many cases, the agency says, opioid drugs actually do less to help patients than therapies such as anti-inflammatory drugs or, in some cases, exercise.

“The risks will outweigh the benefits for the vast majority of patients,” said Fieden.

Pain doctors and the pharmaceutical industry have, predictably, voiced strong opposition to these guidelines, saying they might prevent some patients from receiving the drugs that could help them.

But these recommendations aren’t aimed at keeping cancer patients or those with life-ending illnesses from comfort. They’re a clear signal — finally — from the federal government that treating common pain conditions with long-term, powerful and addictive drugs is inappropriate.

That truly is asking medical practioners in this country to begin a culture shift.