Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. 'They hold what they call 'skittles parties' where they try out sleeping pills, anti-anxiety pills and pain medicine.' 'The kids think these drugs must be safer than heroin because their parents take them,' he said. The illegal activity costs Medicare billions of dollars a year, according to estimates from the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.Д«ut the most troubling trend among drug abusers in Los Angeles, Opferman said, is the growing number of young teens abuse prescription drugs. Traffickers recruit Medicare beneficiaries who are willing to sell their monthly drug supplies for cash, Opferman said. Medicare fraud is another route, according to Opferman, who has been battling illegal drug sales for more than 11 years. Or doctors write false prescriptions that dealers fill and then sell the contraband. In some cases, thieves steal legitimate shipments. Prescription drugs leak out onto the street in a number of ways. 'We are rounding up so much prescription off the street,' Opferman said. A single pill can fetch $80 or more, said Sergeant Stephen Opferman of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. In Los Angeles, 80mg Oxycontin is the most popular drug on the street with addicts.

The trafficking in prescription drugs is close to becoming a billion-dollar industry, industry experts say. The agency expects 2010 numbers to show another double-digit increase.ДЄnd there's big money in it for criminals. In 2009, there were seven million Americans abusing prescription pain and anxiety drugs, up 13% from the prior year, according to the most recent data from DEA. 'It's a significant shift in trend,' Payne said.

But two years ago, prescription drugs won that dubious distinction, according to Rusty Payne, a spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration. Prescription drug abuse is spreading nationwide, but it is particularly rampant in cities like Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago and New York, federal officials say.ДЇor decades, Marijuana was the gateway drug for first-time drug abusers in the United States. 0:00 / 04:08 Prescription drug scams hit Medicare

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