you talked about oxycontin. oxycontin is incredibly effective pain killer. it's incredibly addictive and should only be used in the worst pain. but what happens is the family doctor has 40 people sitting in his room every day. gives it to somebody and they say, i feel fine. and he says god, i have a drug that works and then he puts it out there. and the other thing, parents have got to start thinking about locking their medicine cabinets the way 50 years ago they would have locked their liquor cabinet. because kids get these drugs from their parents. >> i understand. you made progress in that regard. >>. >> we are making progress. not making progress in the availability of illegal drs and the abuse of prescription drugs by kids is going up. but a program like t >>> what's the larger issue behind this? >> the larger issue is, and i have a new book coming out next year, high society. we have a country in which we increasingly think there is a drug for every ill. if we feel lousy we get a drug to make us feel better. if we can't sleep, we have a drug to help us

but you want to ban oxycontin? it's a great pain reliever. >> bill: i don't want to ban oxycontin. put punitive measures on people who sell it including doctors for frivolous reasons. >> we have these laws. they already work. >> bill: nobody enforces these laws on the internet. >> they are on the books. >> bill: buy this stuff and they will send it to you, okay? they are on the books. it's not a societal priority and that's why you have this chaos. that's why you have michael jackson running his bogus operation he was running. it was jackson's fault he died. he was paying this guy 100 grand to bring in this crap and give it to him. >> same with elvis. >> bill: yes. >> celebrities, doctors. >> bill: let's get tough on this. >> we are tough on this. we are locking up more people. higher percentage than any other in the world. >> bill: that's why crime is going down. >> isn't a good thing to try to lock up more people. doesn't stop this abuse that you are talking about. >> bill: the kids? 10 years. >> maybe that's what they get already. i don't know. >> bill: they get nothing. that's

people die every day from overcoast doses -- overdoses to prescription pain killers like vicodin and oxycontin. pain killers now kill more than heroin and cocaine combined. it show's the death toll has more than tripled in the past decade. >>> hey, if you're happy and you know it, you might live longer. researchers asked 3800 people between 52 and 79 to record their level of happiness an anxiety over five years. the happiest were 35% less likely to have died their -- thanker that gloomier counter part. emotional well-being is very important. >>> well, we have all seen the pictures of babies in developing countries with cleft lips. cleft pallets is one of the more common birth defects in the u.s. what's being done to trito lower chances of the defect. >> reporter: the first time matthew and chelsea ever thought about a cleft lip was moments after their son was born. >> it was heartbreaking the first time, just the shock of it all. >> reporter: then it happened again. the only difference this time, doctors were able to catch it early during an ultrasound. >> the look on the nurse's face, i could

>> she is a dig into a form of oxycontin and snorts about three pills worth per day. she claims she is unable to get out of bed without those skills and have a normal life. solstices taking the pill allows her to do everything a mom should do. that is not a strategy that really works. but that is how she sees it. >> this is shocking and its potential of becoming an epidemic. >> we are seeing prescription drug abuse rising run the country. there is a belief that because it is a prescription drug that somehow it's not as dangerous as something like cocaine or heroin. we are seeing more and more people dying from prescription drug use or mixing of various prescription drugs. we have seen a big-name celebrities passing away. people to think it is something you get from a doctor, therefore it could not be so bad. >> unbelievable. we will be watching today. this show is today a 4:00. then stay with us for abc 7 news at 5:00. >>> this is only a test period of a federal government's message to americans for tomorrow. conducting the first-ever nationwide test of the emergency

earlier chaplain beasley was charged with selling oxycontin, growing marijuana, threatening his neighbor and promoting prostitution. when he was released on bail he reconnected with his mentee ex brogan rafferty, and that, police say, is when the real trouble started. on october 7th beasley allegedly placed a help wanted ad on craigslist, $300 a week to watch over a 688-acre farm in rural ohio. three days later he allegedly held a series of interviews with applicants at this local mall. one of those politics was ron haven'ten an unemployed construction worker. when you met with him, what was he like? >> he was all right. i mean, no bells in my head went off about him. you know like if he's going to be a mass murderer or something like that which, you know, is turning out to be, i guess. >> reporter: sanson never got a call back but several other men did and on november 6th one of them went into the woods for what he thought was going to be a job interview but instead turned into attempted murder. >> he turned to see a gun pointed at his head. he deflected the gun and ran. as he was runni

oxycontin, hydrocodone. drugs like that. the most people died in the age group 35 to 54.re told by the centers for disease control the people who live in rural or impoverished communities are particularly at risk. here is how it breaks down by race. most deaths among non-hispanic whites, native americans and alaska natives. lowest rates among blacks and asians. doses have skyrocketed in the last decade not surprisingly by the same number as the prescriptions have increased in the past 10 years. where are these people getting drugs? pill mills, bogus pain clinics for $80 or so you come in and say my back hurts and they write you a prescription for powerful narcotic medications. some people go out doctor shopping with legitimate doctors until they get the prescription they are looking for. dr. tom freidman the director for the centers for disease control says the legitimate medical community bears some responsibility for getting people hooked in the first place. >> it's astonishing. when i went to medical school, we were inappropriately, incorrectly assured don't worry, if

why are you using so much of oxycontin, and how many patients do you see a day?which they did in the jackson cl case. they looked at arnie klein, were able to look at the number of scrips he wrote to michael jackson for demerol. he said, it wasn't me, just my office. but you can track it. >> if we're serious about breaking this problem, john, there are things that we can be doing, but we are not doing. >> absolutely. >> and i always said, for different reasons, that this was a selective prosecution of dr. murray, but it serves a very good purpose, just like barry bonds and steroids. it cleans up the athletic industry. this makes all these doctors aware of the perils of prescribing drugs to -- >> there's just one problem, john, and that is that the pharmaceutical industry is one of the largest in terms of payments to lawmakers in this country. >> and it does -- >> -- a vast amount -- you know better than i do. >> and it seems this all started with the deregulation of the pharmaceuticals, doesn't it? >> let's get back to a legal issue, question for you guys. conrad

more than 40 die every year from an overdose of vicodin and oxycontin and it is an overdose from prescription meds, it is at an epidemic levels killing more americans than heroin and cocaine combined. >>> a new study suggests a single glass of wine with dinner could put you at at higher risk of breast cancer. the study from the medical association says three to four drinks over the course of a week could increase the risk of breast cancer. >> women who consume a lot of alcohol, they increase their risk of breast cancer. we actually thought that a small amount of alcohol was relatively associated with breast cancer. >> it needs to be constant throughout a woman's lifetime. the increased risk was consistent. no matter what the woman drank, be it wine or liquor, or didn't take into account a woman's past history. >> well, komen maryland race for the cure is taking a mission to raise funds for breast cancer treatment to the eastern shore and the race will be held april 22 and registration already open. for more information, you can head to komen md.org/oc. well, if you have a gluten allergy, you

but it's ok feels as if the city has got to get the police on oxycontin you mean i would estimate that meets eight thousand people have to be on the camera plus you can see some of the protests of things. into various groups they were holding up then as they shot him holding the tea to step down that will support a goal of the pos where they are makeshift clinics and as i'm talking to you they are still mostly by strumming and they carrying the injured people every couple of minutes you'll hear an ambulance that's trying to get the crowds to bring people back as well as the one in tears here have organized themselves such that some of the protesters are actually standing at the exits and entrances to top this fire and they controlling who comes in and who goes out there trying to prevent any kind of soldiers from getting anywhere close to the square and that is why we have seen from most of the day clashes happening just a short distance from here now faces behind me my tomorrow what happened back in figuring that was the same square and much the same context as they came out of the mi

minute answers what exactly do you think rick perry was on while giving that speech well i would say oxycontin because he's a lot like a pizza very cheesy on the outside of the inside an accident like that rush limbaugh told me that. well you know if. i think he was doing the marrow. it's a gateway drug which comes after i advocate way action of masturbation which i strongly am i against mr santorum you have any suggestions here for what you think i'm wrong i know rick perry i know he's a good guy but i think i think he's had a little too many services with all the illegal immigrants he's partying with down in texas if i was president i'd build the wall there and i would rick perry's party with the illegal immigrants down there in texas i'm going to say. not my nine nine nine tax plan is much better for him because nine nine nine is is it go round numbers he said it was a flat we're not we're not talking about nine nine nine right now you know you know there's just you know obviously larry i would. have stolen my my tax was little really the audience actually has weighed in on this question as

the cures help prak people shopping from doctor to doctor to get oxycontin. and funds for the program disappeared when $70 kblinl was cut from the state department of justice. east bay entrepreneur bob pack lost two children after they were pit hit by a woman driving under the influence of vicodin. pack is now working to restore funding to the cures program. >> basically will put a quarter penny fee or a tax on each prescription narcotic pill in california to be paid for by the drug manufacturers. >> and 40 people die every day from prescription drug overdose autos and would you bring your children to an occupy encampment? coming up at 6:30 tonight potential for a clash of cultures in san francisco now that the holidays are arriving. >> and a very rough day on wall street. political turmoil in europe driving down the value of everything that you've been working for. >> and coming up, a threat to your >> stock prices took another plunge today. wall street became occupied by european debt crisis now spreading from greece to italy. italian government tried to re

oxycontin and vicodin are commonly abused painkillers and the problem isn't limited to florida federal authorities say it's become an epidemic in this country ai. drug-free option could help people predisposed to migraines. it's exercise and shows regular exercise does no harm or may help modest benefits. the findings suggest people who want to reduce migraine was outside affects of drugs could be a good alternative. >> and warren buffet couldn't hold back, investing megabucks in ibm but kindel fire gets shipped out ahead of schedule. and that is today's after the bell report. >> it's an early delivery for the kindel fire today. amazon starting shipping ahead of schedule but not lighting under fire under the ipad yet. reviews are lackluster to lukewarm, one thing everyone does agree on is that price is unbeatable, just $200 less than half of the ipad. so price may be right for millions of customers but sit right for amazon? bloomberg west discovered today even sek zpiz exchange commission would like to know and wrote a letter to amazon telling them to please explain significance of the

using painkillers to treat headaches everything from tylenol to bar waits, narcotics, ox codone and oxycontin it is an epidemic they come not only with one problem not only the migraine but they come with an animal gee sick problem people in their peak performance years and they are sometime mid by the pain and then the analgesic over use. >> i was raising my three sons you are busy you know you are driving car pools here, running all over the kids are breaking armlegs. >>> her primary care physician gave her a bar wait based painkiller along with a beta- blocker after two years the headaches persisted her doctor gave her percocet >> i took it in a low dose then a higher dose, the headache would come back so you end up taking more and that is the problem. >>> you take a pain medication, more frequently than 8 days a month or more than 2 days a week you can lower the threshold. >>> the problem, primary care physicians, don't know any better the painkillers can easily be called into the pharmacy, no extra screening required and the drugs are relatively inexpensive general practitioners have an

mistake thinking it's the city or minority kids, but we know in rural areas they were dealing with oxycontinr all 16-year-olds and why not just on urban areas? >> anybody can say they want to have the testing, but we know that the areas where the highest rates are in the northeast and in the south, people in the south don't want to deal with that, but it's true. we know that minority males are seven times more likely to have intercourse with other men. yet when you are like me and the pediatrician and ask your patients, do you have sex with other boys, they say no. there is the shame and the stigma. we have to ask the questions and we have to protect these children. >> i wish we had more time. obviously this is important and we hope to have ow to talk about it. thank you so much for your time. we are asking the audience based on information, you heard the doctor speak out and you agree with the american act of pediatrics that teens should get hiv testing and starting at the age of 16. go to "news nation" to cast your vote. that does it for this thursday edition of "news nation." see you tomo

have you ever done oxycontin? >> yes, sir. >> okay. have you ever been through any treatment for drug abuse? >> no, sir. >> okay. do you think you might be interested in participating in something like that while you're here? >> yes, sir. >> okay. we'll have you up here monday, okay? >> okay. >> next is a counseling session designed to give new inmates a sense of what to expect in their daily lives at brushy mountain. >> i try to comfort the guys that first come in because most of them are scared. a lot of them won't admit it, but if they would, they are. just let them see a friendly face, tell them they are not going to get raped and beat up, things like that that they've been told. you're pretty much going to be in a two-man cell 23 hours a day. >> i've heard of that. >> you're not going to be showering with eight or ten guys. there's not going to be 20 guys standing there watching you. you'll shower and eat. other than that, you'll pretty much be in your cell. >> not only is john kerry an intake counselor, he's also an inmate. >> i'

and earlier this year, chaplain beasley was charged with selling oxycont oxycontins, growing marijuanapromoting prostitution. brogan's father says he feels tremendous guilt because he is the one who introduced his son to beasley. >> i trusted him with my son. the most precious thing in the world to me. and it's sure biting me now. >> reporter: one of his classmates, who did not want her identity revealed, told me brogan defended her from bullies. >> he stood up for me a lot more. it helped me stand up for myself better. >> reporter: meanwhile, brogan has written this letter home. saying he fears he won't get out until well after everybody he knows and loves has died. for "good morning america," dan harris, abc news, akron, ohio. >>> and coming up, josh has "the play of the day." and the hot, new trend inspired play of the day." and the hot, new trend inspired by pippa. ouble miles on every purchase. so we earned a holiday trip to the big apple twice as fast! dinner! [ garth ] we get double miles every time we use our card. and since double miles add up fast, we can bring the whole gang

that's exactly what i said as a mom to these researchers and they said, look, we worry of oxycontin beingt going to get addicted. i heard this over and over again. you don't need to worry about three days of percocet cotton. you don't want your kid to be in pain. >> a part of me said, i wouldn't even want to take those drugs. i wouldn't want to take the chance, but if your little guy or girl, i would understand. elizabeth cohen, thanks. >>> top stories coming your way next, including new developments from cnn from the g-20 summit in france. what about greece, you ask. we'll tell you. it's three minutes until the top of the hour. there's a big reason to lower your high cholesterol... dangerous plaque that can build up in arteries over time... high cholesterol is a major factor. but these other health factors can also contribute to plaque buildup. so if you have high cholesterol and any of these other health factors... it's even more important to get your cholesterol where your doctor wants. talk to your doctor about crestor. when diet and exercise alone aren't enough... adding crestor can