Recently, you may have heard a startling statistic: drug overdoses now kill more Americans than car accidents. For some years, the same holds true here in the San Joaquin Valley. The lion’s share of those overdoses are from opioids—street drugs and heavy-duty painkillers either derived from opium or made in a lab. Now, health officials are trying to prevent the problem from becoming worse. Opioid drug addiction isn’t new. But as more doctors prescribe painkillers like Oxycontin and Vicodin, and as more patients turn from those to street drugs like heroin, the problem is evolving. One place to witness the changing face of addiction is Aegis Treatment Center, a clinic offering methadone, counseling and other services to drug addicts. Dr. Marc Lasher is the medical director of Aegis centers in Fresno and Merced. “When I first came, we saw the hardcore heroin addicts who had been doing it for 20, 30 years,” says Lasher, a wiry man in his 60s with a curly gray ponytail and a warm smile. He
https://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/kvpr/files/styles/big_story/public/201701/Vicodin.jpg