We must do something to let people in this country know that addiction is something that can be treated and this epidemic of prescribed opioids is something that we can fix.
Perri PeltzWe did decide that every addict in this film, Warning: This Drug May Kill You, would be someone who started out with a prescription for an opioid from a doctor. The story that hadn't been told is that the vast majority - somewhere around 80 percent - of current heroin users began with an addiction to prescription opioids. So as much as people might want to look at this and say, 'Oh this is really a heroin problem,' yes, it is a heroin problem, and no one is saying differently, but it starts more often than not with a prescription.
Perri PeltzI hope 'Warning: This Drug May Kill You' documentary helps to show the humanity of the people who are struggling with the brain disease of addiction because that is what this is - this isn't about bad people, this is about good people who became addiction oftentimes in the process of being prescribed medication for pain.
Perri PeltzWe are having a public health response to this epidemic of prescription opioids. We are looking at treatment options, there are drugs being made available for treatments, and we aren't just throwing people in prison. So this is a very different response than the traditional criminal justice response that we have had to past drug epidemics.
Perri PeltzAddiction is a brain disease - this isn't a moral failing - and we have got to stop looking at it that way.
Perri PeltzIn 1999, Purdue Pharma the maker of OxyContin went on a massive marketing campaign. Back then, prescription opioids were only used in extreme cases - post surgery, end of life care, cancer pain. We use a clip from an ad in the film where they had a doctor saying, "Less than 1 percent of people who use prescription opioid long-term will become addicted" - that changed the mindset of physicians across the country.
Perri Peltz