Addiction to strong narcotic pain-killers killing more

By many measures, 2012 was a year that saw, if not new, a newly recognized threat to the health and safety of New Hampshire’s teens and young adults brought to the forefront. Addiction to prescription drugs in Nashua and throughout New Hampshire has outstripped addiction and overdose deaths to other more familiar so-called street drugs such as cocaine and heroin, according to officials. It’s this addiction to powerful narcotic pain killers like oxycodone, Percocet   and fentynol that are killing more people and sending addicts in droves to doctor’s offices and emergency rooms seeking these narcotics. These addicts also are filling up beds at treatment centers like Keystone Hall in Nashua. A piece of good news is that New Hampshire became the 49th state to pass legislation establishing a prescription monitoring program, a system that experts say is a vital tool for doctors and pharmacists to better track what prescriptions patients already have.