SoCal Connected Investigates Prescription Pill Addiction Sweeping America All New Episode Airs October 21 at 8:30 PM
SOCAL CONNECTED INVESTIGATES
PRESCRIPTION PILL ADDICATION SWEEPING AMERICA
ALL NEW EPISODE AIRS OCTOBER 21 AT 8:30 PM
LOS ANGELES, October 14 - In a special investigation, SoCal Connected correspondent Michael Okwu reports on the fastest-growing drug problem in the nation and how a broken healthcare system may be doing more to aide addicts than help them. "RX Danger" airs Friday, October 21 at 8:30 p.m. on KCET.
With the death toll continuing to climb, the abuse of prescription drugs has now overtaken car accidents as the leading cause of accidental deaths in America, causing more fatalities than cocaine and heroin combined.
Correspondent Michael Okwu interviews a Palm Desert mother who, despite warning pharmacists and doctors about her son's prescription pill addiction, still lost her son to an overdose. Okwu then speaks with a group of recovering young people from Orange County who share their own downward spiral and are eager to warn others at risk. He also accompanies an undercover investigator to the downtown streets of Los Angeles to see how easy it is to buy pills on the black market.
This SoCal Connected special report uncovers how the prescription pill epidemic especially affects teens as new data shows that nearly half of teenagers polled by the Department of Justice think prescription drugs are safer than street drugs, and a third believe they aren't addictive at all.
Tune-in this Friday to learn how law enforcement is tackling the issue and what parents can do to protect their teens.
Correspondent Michael Okwu reports. The producer is Rebecca Haggerty.
The all-new episode airs Friday, October 21 at 8:30 p.m.
The Executive Producer of SoCal Connected is Bret Marcus. Co-Executive Producer is Justine Schmidt. Anchor is Val Zavala.
About SoCal Connected
SoCal Connected, winner of the Peabody and duPont-Columbia awards, 14 Emmy® Awards, 15 Golden Mikes, 18 LA Press Club Awards, the Edward R. Murrow Award for Best News Documentary and Los Angeles Magazine's "Best New Local TV Program" of 2009, airs Fridays (8:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.), with encores Saturdays (6 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.), Sundays (6:30 p.m. - 7 p.m.) and Mondays (10:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.) exclusively on KCET. For more information, to view episodes online or to post comments, please visit www.kcet.org/socalconnected.
SoCal Connected is made possible through the generous support of The Ahmanson Foundation, serving the Los Angeles community since 1952; Jim and Anne Rothenberg; The Maddocks-Brown Foundation; The Elizabeth Hofert-Dailey Trust; The John Randolph Haynes & Dora Haynes Foundation; The City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, UCLA and U.S. Bank.
