An investigation by the Advance shows that Staten Island easily surpasses the other four boros when it comes to pain killer prescriptions per capita, but rather than treating a problem the medication is being abused by the population.
Out of the 62 counties in New York State only Sullivan County has more pill-poppers per capita - they lived through Woodstock, they can handle it. Over 115,000 Rxs were written for oxycodone on Staten Island in 2009, but as the Advance found out, these aren't just for root canals anymore.
"A lot of people are abusing and illegally using these medications to self-medicate. They're being their own doctors," said Steve Pasierb from the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. "There's a huge amount of people who abuse them for their intended effect."Sadly, this is becoming somewhat of an epidemic here as the youth raid their parents' medicine cabinets like an open fridge. Then there's your phony scripts and drugstore cowboys. It's like the Wild West of designer drugs.
You will get carded, however, if you try and buy cough syrup.
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