A new, in-depth investigation by the Center for Public Integrity and the Associated Press details the methods by which pharmaceutical companies and their allies weaken and defeat restrictions on opioid access. According to the article, "Deaths linked to addictive drugs like OxyContin, Vicodin and Percocet had increased more than fourfold since 1999, accounting for more fatal overdoses in 2012 than heroin and cocaine combined." Part one of the two-article series describes "a statehouse playbook of delay and defend that includes funding advocacy groups that use the veneer of independence to fight limits on the drugs," a strategy executed by "an annual average of 1,350 lobbyists in legislative hubs from 2006 through 2015." Part two focuses on similar efforts at the federal level, outlining how drug lobbies "reinforced their influence with more than $140 million doled out to political campaigns. That combined spending on lobbying and campaigns amounts to more than 200 times the $4 million spent during the same period by the handful of groups that work for restrictions on painkillers. Meanwhile, opioid sales reached $9.6 billion last year." The spike in opioid deaths has led President Obama to declare Sept. 18-24 Prescription Opioid and Heroin Epidemic Awareness Week and request $1.1 billion in new funding for treatment programs.