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Agency in the government. >> nationwide, the latest data shows the epidemic costing more than $78 billion a year. the cost start showing up as lost tax addicts drop. emergency room visits, price tag of $28 billion, and then the impact on the criminal justice system. nearly $8 billion a year is spent on prosecuting and incarcerating addicts and dealers. >> it is a huge deal. from the d.a.'s perspective, number one drug threat facing the country. >> the dea assistant administrator says there are 580 heroin users new a day. 80% started by using or misusing prescription painkillers. >> what we've ...

Take a comprehensive approach, federal, state, local law enforcement, prevention, treatment and the shoot of prescription drugs because an amazing fact, four out of five new heroin users started on prescription drugs. i met with a kid the other day. his shoulder was torn up in a football accident and he had an operation. they put him on those meds and he got addicted and now his life is a mess. it's a real tragedy. i desperately hope the president addresses it because i think it is something that everybody here realizes is something we have to address and there is an appetite for bipartisan ac...

Have been reporting on this for so long the issue nationwide. but with this, is this specifically problematic in new england or the northeast? >> it's a good question. it's really problematic all over the country. what's so scary about it and frightening is that many of the people who are heroin users now started off as addicts to pain pills. they may have gotten a precipitati prescription from their doctor and become addicted. they could no longer get the pills so they turned to heroin, which is the same active ingredients. the thing about heroin is you may not realize this, but it's cheaper ...

This is heroin. they both virtually have the same effect on the brain. the most typical course, someone starts with pills like this, they get cut off, they turn to heroin, which is an illegal drug, but it works fast, gets you high, and it is very, very cheap. we now know that 80% of heroin users started off with pills like these. >> the question always arises, i think, with these sorts of programs, does it enable people to keep doing heroin? because, look, i'm not going to be criminalized, i got a safety net, i'm going to keep doing this. >> nobody wants to keep doing it. they want to get bett...

Painkillers for that. >> reporter: how long after you first got that prescription for vicodin after your hurt your ankle before you were taking heroin? >> 18 months. >> reporter: 18 months. >> give or take a month or two. less than two years. >> reporter: i want to make a really important point. these are fda-approved doctor-prescribed pills. this is heroin. they both virtually have the same effect on the brain. the most typical course is someone starts with pills like this, they get cut off, they turn to heroin. which is an illegal drug, but it works fast. it gets you high. and it is very, ve...