The prescription of opioids for chronic pain has increased constantly since the turn of the 21st century in industrialized countries. In 2017, the United States consider the "opioid crisis" as a national public health emergency. Similar trends have been observed in Switzerland, which was, in 2015, the 7th largest consumer of opioids in the world. In Switzerland, there are many intra-hospital recommendations, which are not necessarily applicable in primary care and the latest expert recommendations date from 2005. Therefore, it seems relevant to summarize the current recommendations, useful in general practice on the prescription of opioids in the context of chronic non-cancer pain.