Nobody sets out thinking they’re going to be a needle user.
Maybe you’re in pain or had a bad day and a friend hands you a pill, saying, “Here, this will help.”
“That’s how this problem always starts,” said Dr. Deeni Bassam, a board-certified anesthesiologist and pain specialist, in the FBI documentary “Chasing the Dragon: The Life of an Opiate Addict.”
“There’s very little difference between oxycodone, morphine, and heroin. It’s just that one comes in a prescription bottle and another one comes in a plastic bag,” Bassam said.
FBI special agent Andrew Lenhart said he always asks addicts which is the most addictive drug they’ve tried.
“And without a doubt, 100 percent of the time, they'll say the most addictive drug is oxycodone,” he said in the documentary.
“The best thing that can happen to someone who is addicted to oxycodone is that they can be arrested. The best thing is they get arrested and go to jail. Everything other than that is worse—it’s going to end in a bad way.”
In an average week in America, around 308 people die of an overdose from prescription painkillers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). About 28,000 people died in 2014 alone.
The FBI promoted the 45-minute documentary, jointly produced with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), during Prescription Opioid and Heroin Epidemic Awareness Week, Sept. 18–24.
The personal accounts provide harrowing insight into the destructive nature of opioid addiction.
The Human Toll
All quotes and personal stories are from “Chasing the Dragon,” the FBI and DEA’s documentary about opioid addiction in the United States, released in February. Watch the documentary at: fbi.gov/ChasingTheDragon
Katrina
