Addiction to painkillers on the rise in San Diego

By Thomas Fudge / Science and Technology Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published April 9, 2006 at 9:00 PM PDT

This story was published more than 18 years ago.

Why are addictive painkillers being called the new heroin? Tom Fudge discovers how serious the problem of addiction to painkillers is in San Diego, and what can be done to curb the crisis.

Why are addictive painkillers being called the new heroin? Tom Fudge discovers how serious the problem of addiction to painkillers is in San Diego, and what can be done to curb the crisis.

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General Barry McCaffrey is an adjunct professor of National Security at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He served as the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy from 1996 to 2001.
Philip Herschman is president of the Opiate Treatment Program Division of the CRC Health Group. He oversees fifty drug treatment programs across the country.