Intervention

In-Depth: Prescription Addiction (5x2)

Air date: Oct 20, 2008

Medicine cabinets are fuller than ever today. In one port town on Florida's west coast, pharmaceutical drug abuse and its often fatal consequences are sharply on the rise, particularly among teenagers and other young people. This year, deaths from pharmaceutical drug overdoses in the area are on pace to exceed accidental deaths from car accidents. Legal drugs account for three times as many overdoses as illegal drugs - an alarming finding. Pain clinics prescribe opioids like aspirin. Meet several people whose lives have been taken over by abuse of deadly and addictive drugs, all of which are perfectly legal. We'll also meet a group of community members and experts who are taking to the streets and airwaves in the hopes of stopping this silent epidemic once and for all.