it's one of prescription painkillers - oxycodone, hydrocodone, and other legal narcotics, all related to opium. collectively, they are called opioids. >> these are the opioid painkillers. and prescriptions for drugs like these have more than quadrupled over the last 15 years - to the extent that the us now consumes more than 80 percent of the global supply of these drugs. >> overdoses from prescription opioid drugs now kill nearly seventeen thousand americans every year. that's one overdose death every thirty minutes. >> the overdose rate, which might have been 1 or 2 a month in our emergency department, is now more like 3 or 4 or 5, if not more than that, in a 24-hour period. >> that's a massive increase. >> massive. >> over the past 10 years, we've had more than 125,000 americans lose their lives to painkiller overdose deaths. >> the food and drug administration recently approved a powerful new opioid painkiller called zohydro - over the objections of its own medical advisors, and dozens of lawmakers. >> i thought we had learned our lesson with oxycontin. how can you say with any de

from 2001 to 2012, we saw an increase of hydrocodone to the extent of 197%. a 275% increase in analysis of oxycodone. >> of what does analysis mean? >> when a drug -- >> increase? >> when a drug is submitted for analysis, it's either seized pursuant to arrest, purchased undercover. what it shows is our cases are moving from the standard drug cases over to -- an increase in cases related to prescription drugs. these analyses occur across the country. if an undercover agent or undercover officer at local county sheriff's department makes a purchase undercover of oxycodone, he submits that for analysis. we get those reports. >> so what is it, tripled? is that the figure? >> 275% in an 11-year period. >> almost. so what do you deduce from that? >> i deduce we have a major prescription drug problem. >> yeah. >> it's just getting worse. heroin is just a symptom of prescription drug problems. >> what you're also deducing is that the prescription drug is a gateway drug to heroin, because if it gets too expensive, then the young person turns to heroin, which is much c

from 2001 to 2012, we saw an increase of hydrocodone to the extent of 197%. a 275% increase in analysis of oxycodone. >> of what does analysis mean? >> when a drug -- >> increase? >> when a drug is submitted for analysis, it's either seized pursuant to arrest, purchased undercover. what it shows is our cases are moving from the standard drug cases over to -- an increase in cases related to prescription drugs. these analyses occur across the country. if an undercover agent or undercover officer at local county sheriff's department makes a purchase undercover of oxycodone, he submits that for analysis. we get those reports. >> so what is it, tripled? is that the figure? >> 275% in an 11-year period. >> almost. so what do you deduce from that? >> i deduce we have a major prescription drug problem. >> yeah. >> it's just getting worse. heroin is just a symptom of prescription drug problems. >> what you're also deducing is that the prescription drug is a gateway drug to heroin, because if it gets too expensive, then the young person turns to heroin, which is much c

it is a pure hydrocodone drug that comes in doses up to ten times higher than vehicle caden. the entire prescription drug epidemic was launched basically from high dose oxycodone, and many of us felt that a high dose hydrocodone product would end up in the same place. >> fur areas have been more immaterial packeted than the state of maine. here, more long acting painkillers are prescribed per capital, than in any other state. >> it's led to one of the highest addiction rates in the country. and a remitted surge in the use of her win her win. this ambulance team responds to a call nearly every day. >> it's about 10:00 o'clock on a friday night. from what we with are hearing there's a 25-year-old male in there, who could have had a seizure due to a overdose. the responders found this man lying on a bathroom floor, unconscious and barely breathing. a syringe and a small bagging of heroine were at his bedside. they were able to revive him by administering a drug that countered the effects. now we are seeing it so frequently, and there are people that you would never expect. it is

it's one of prescription painkillers - oxycodone, hydrocodone, and other legal narcotics, all related to opium. collectively, they are called opioids. >> these are the opioid painkillers. and prescriptions for drugs like these have more than quadrupled over the last 15 y -

it's one of prescription painkillers - oxycodone, hydrocodone, and other legal narcotics, all related to opium. collectively, they are called opioids. >> these are the opioid painkillers. and prescriptions for drugs like these have more than quadrupled over the last 15 years - to the extent that the us now consumes more than 80 percent of the

it's one of prescription painkillers - oxycodone, hydrocodone, and other legal narcotics, all relatedium. collectively, they are called opioids. >> these are the opioid painkillers. and prescriptions for drugs like these have more than quadrupled over the last 15 years - to the extent that the us now consumes more than 80 percent of the global supply of these drugs.