Optimum News 12 Newsday.com MSG Varsity Explore LI AM New York Optimum Autos Optimum Homes

Content Preview Newsday 7 day/Optimum Online® subscribers click here for full access
Not a Newsday or Optimum Online® subscriber? Click here

Experts see spike in LI painkiller addicts seeking help

Quick ReadThe number of people on Long Island seeking help for prescription painkiller addiction has spiked in recent years.

Matthew Callaghan photographed at Phoenix House where he

Photo credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa | Matthew Callaghan photographed at Phoenix House where he is recovering from an addiction to prescription drugs. (July 20, 2010)

The number of people on Long Island seeking help for prescription painkiller addiction has spiked in recent years - an indicator, experts say, of both a growing awareness of the dangers of such medications and increasing abuse.

In Nassau and Suffolk, 5,664 addicts sought help in 2009, 1,516 more than in 2007, for narcotic painkiller addiction, a 36 percent jump, according to state figures....

Newsday & ExploreLI are now available at no charge to Newsday 7-day and Optimum Online® subscribers. To continue reading, please log in or register now.

Already
registered on
newsday.com?
Log in
Newsday 7-day
or Optimum Online®
subscriber?
Get access
Not a Newsday 7-day
or Optimum Online®
subscriber?
Click here

Facebook