Pill addiction is expensive
Prescription-pill addiction is very expensive to maintain.
Oxycodone-containing pain pills cost $1 or more per milligram on the street.
The most common sizes are 30 mg and 80 mg.
Addicts typically take multiple pills per day. So, it is not uncommon to see addictions that cost thousands of dollars per month. In addition to the many problems caused by the addiction and drug impairment, pill addicts typically cause financial distress for themselves and their families. It is common for pill addicts to first exhaust their own resources and then turn toward stealing from their own friends and family.
So many family relationships have been destroyed not only by the addiction but by the theft that is so commonly associated with the addiction to pills.
It is common to see pill addicts turn to other crime like theft, forgery or even home invasion to feed their habits. Because pill addicts often have a prescription for their drugs of choice or buy their pills directly from someone with a legal prescription, it is more difficult to interrupt their supply.
As a result, the sheer cost of addiction is a primary limitation on their habit.
This has helped lead to the reappearance of heroin.
Heroin is very similar chemically to prescription pain pills. Because heroin costs about $10 per dose as opposed to $35 or $90 for a pain pill, it is much more affordable for the addict.
It is easily substituted for pain pills, and some pain pill addicts in Anderson County have made the transition to heroin.
Dave Clark is the district attorney general of the 7th District of Tennessee – serving Anderson County.
