Pain Management in NFL Spawns Culture of Prescription Drug Abuse

Pain management in NFL spawns culture of prescription drug abuse
When Fred Smoot, a former Washington Redskins defensive back, fractured his sternum and had to spend four months sleeping in a recliner because he couldn't lie flat, he said his team doctors gave him a choice: Miss the rest of the season or "figure out a way to play." Worried about his livelihood, he made it on the football field each Sunday thanks to a syringe full of a drug called Toradol.
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Laws aim to curtail drug abuse in Ocean County
Legislators, with input from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, are touting legislation to curtail the prescription drug and heroin “epidemic” in the county.
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North Jersey 'pill mills' cashing in on painkiller addiction
State investigations, police reports and court documents offer a window into a growing world of prescription drug trafficking, one that begins not on a street corner but in a doctor’s office, and has contributed, many say, to the spread of addiction in New Jersey and across the United States.
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