Pubdate: Sun, 03 Apr 2016 Source: Press Democrat, The (Santa Rosa, CA) Copyright: 2016 The Press Democrat Contact: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/348 Author: Liz George OPIOIDS AND PAIN EDITOR: As a public health nurse, I appreciate Dr. Erin Lund's Close to Home column ("A message of hope for opioid-addicted pregnant women," March 26). However, I would like to point out that many of the women I see are actually using prescription opioid medications as prescribed by their doctors. When I ask about substance use, these women say "none." It is not a "substance" to them. It's a prescription. The problem is so much larger than addiction. It starts with primary care doctors prescribing opiates for chronic pain conditions. Until we have good alternative treatment pain clinics available, people will be given opiates to treat chronic pain - and some of those people will become pregnant. LIZ GEORGE Sebastopol - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom