Are Prescription Drugs Part of the Heroin Epidemic at the Jersey Shore? [PUBLIC OPINION]

Most of the heroin users now, their first opioid exposures are the prescription drugs. That’s true for at least 80 percent of today’s heroin addicts ~Dr. Wilson Compton, National Institute on Drug Abuse

The Jersey Shore has seen an increase in heroin use  and part of the opiate problem, according to many, is the overuse of prescription drugs. On Monday in Washington Congressman Tom MacArthur (NJ-03), who Co-Chairs the Bi-Partisan Heroin Task Force with Congresswoman Annie Kuster from New Hampshire, hosted a "roundtable" discussion on the topic of prescription drugs on Capitol Hill.

The discussion will focus on the importance of prescription drug monitoring programs and how they can be improved.

Nearly 100 Americans, on average, die each day from opioid overdoses and, in New Jersey, drug abuse is taking more of our loved ones than car accidents, suicides and firearms combined ~ NJ U.S. Congressman Tom MacArthur

According to Healthline ... more than 60 percent of 2014’s drug overdoses were related to opioid use. Heroin and some legal painkillers like morphine and codeine are isolated from the opium poppy. These naturally derived painkillers are sometimes referred to as opiates.Legal prescriptions for opioids are useful for acute pain like broken bones, nasty lacerations, or post-surgical pain, but if opioids are used over time for chronic conditions, tolerance and dependence can develop.

September is RECOVERY MONTH

How Do YOU Feel? Are "prescription drugs" a gateway to abuse?