EASTERN KENTUCKY: PAINKILLER CAPITAL

Investigation Reveals Narcotics Flood Mountain Counties At Highest Rate In
Nation

Eastern Kentucky is the prescription-painkiller capital of the United
States, a place where narcotics such as OxyContin and Vicodin pour in at
much higher rates than in Miami, Detroit or Los Angeles.

Nearly half a ton of narcotics reached six small mountain counties from
1998 to 2001 -- the equivalent of three-quarters of a pound for every adult
who lives there.

All the drugs were legal, but they didn't all stay that way.

In fact, federal officials say that the more legal narcotics are available
in an area, the more will be diverted to illegal use. That's bad news for a
region suffering from nothing less than a prescription-drug crisis.

In an analysis of federal data, the Herald-Leader found that, on a per
capita basis, Eastern Kentucky drugstores, hospitals and other legal
outlets received more prescription painkillers than anywhere else in the
nation.