Suburban Junkies: Why Prescription Drug Addicts Turn to Heroin

The video above by California Watch tells the story of how four "normal" young adults in Orange County got hooked on heroin after first being addicted to prescription drugs. Three of them are recovering addicts, the other is dead.

There's a simple reason why people are going from prescription drugs to heroin — it's cheaper.

As the video explains, six or seven pills can keep an addict high for about a day, but those pills can be sold for a gram of heroin, which is enough for an addict to be high for three or four days.

One of the most outspoken advocates of the dangers of prescription drugs is from San Ramon, April Rovero.

April's son Joey died while attending Arizona State when he took a fatal cocktail of prescription drugs. Since, Rovero started the National Coalition Against Prescription Drug Abuse to raise awareness of the dangers of prescription drugs.

"I truly believe my son would be alive today if he was aware of the risks," Rovero said at a . "He wasn't a big risk taker. He just didn't know."

Do you think prescription drug abuse is a problem in the Tri-Valley? Have you heard of people turning to heroin? Is this issue getting enough attention? What can be done?

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