SAMHSA: Pain Medication Abuse a Common Path to Heroin

�I swore I would never use a needle,� is a common refrain that physician Marc Fishman, MD, hears from young patients in treatment for opioid addiction. But many of his patients who began their drug use with prescription pain medications do indeed surprise themselves by resorting to injection heroin use. The switch often comes when they are struggling with withdrawal and requiring higher doses to ease their symptoms and can no longer afford to purchase pain medications, which have a far higher price on the illegal drug market.