Misuse of Prescription Painkillers Becoming More Widespread Among Young Californians

In a California Healthline Special Report by Kenny Goldberg, experts discussed how the recent increase in prescriptions issued for strong painkillers is contributing to a growing problem of prescription drug misuse among young Californians.

The Special Report includes comments from:

Tom Lenox, special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration;
Michael Plopper, chief medical officer of Sharp HealthCare Behavioral Health Services;
Sherrie Rubin, founder and director of the not-for-profit organization HOPE; and
Robert Wailes, physician and member of the board of trustees for the California Medical Association (Goldberg, California Healthline, 4/11).

The complete transcript of this Special Report is available as a PDF.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

<h1>Misuse of Prescription Painkillers Becoming More Widespread Among Young Californians</h1>
<div>		<time class="posted-on" datetime="2012-04-11T00:00:00-07:00">
			April 11, 2012		</time>
		</div>
<p>In a <i>California Healthline </i>Special Report by Kenny Goldberg, experts discussed how the recent increase in prescriptions issued for strong painkillers is contributing to a growing problem of prescription drug misuse among young Californians.</p><p>The Special Report includes comments from:</p><ul><li>Tom Lenox, special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration;</li><li>Michael Plopper, chief medical officer of Sharp HealthCare Behavioral Health Services;</li><li>Sherrie Rubin, founder and director of the not-for-profit organization HOPE; and</li><li>Robert Wailes, physician and member of the board of trustees for the California Medical Association (Goldberg, <i>California Healthline</i>, 4/11).</li></ul><p>The complete transcript of this Special Report is <a href="https://www.kff.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2012/04/chlspecialreporttranscript041112.pdf">available as a PDF</a>.</p><ul><li><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/misuse-of-prescription-painkillers-becoming-more-widespread-among-young-californians/?share=facebook">				Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)				Facebook			</a></li><li><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/misuse-of-prescription-painkillers-becoming-more-widespread-among-young-californians/?share=linkedin">				Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)				LinkedIn			</a></li><li><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/misuse-of-prescription-painkillers-becoming-more-widespread-among-young-californians/?share=x">				Click to share on X (Opens in new window)				X			</a></li><li><a href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20Misuse%20of%20Prescription%20Painkillers%20Becoming%20More%20Widespread%20Among%20Young%20Californians&body=https%3A%2F%2Fcaliforniahealthline.org%2Fnews%2Fmisuse-of-prescription-painkillers-becoming-more-widespread-among-young-californians%2F&share=email">				Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)				Email			</a></li><li><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/misuse-of-prescription-painkillers-becoming-more-widespread-among-young-californians/#print?share=print">				Click to print (Opens in new window)				Print			</a></li><li>				<a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/misuse-of-prescription-painkillers-becoming-more-widespread-among-young-californians/view/republish/">					Republish This Story				</a>			</li></ul><em><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us">KFF Health News</a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about <a href="https://www.kff.org/about-us">KFF</a>.</em><p><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/morning-briefing/">Subscribe</a> to KFF Health News' free Morning Briefing.</p>

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