in_the_media

The heroin scourge: Prescription drugs are often gateway

Media Outlet: 

The Reporter, Delaware County Times

The gateway to heroin addiction is not through other illicit drugs, but through prescription opiates like Oxycontin. It follows that one of the biggest ways to combat heroin addiction is to monitor or curtail the prescription of such powerful painkillers. “Prescription opiate abuse has skyrocketed mainly due to availability,” said Ellen Unterwald, director of Temple School of Medicine’s Center for Substance Abuse Research.