West Virginia's U.S. senators, Republican Shelley Moore Capito and Democrat Joe Manchin, are right to be focusing on what may be the single most effective way to turn back the rising tide of drug addiction in America. It is the many people who start down the path of addiction to illegal opioids by using legal painkillers to cope with injuries and/or illnesses.

Manchin is concerned about federal action to allow the painkiller OxyContin to be prescribed for children as young as 11. More thought should have been given to the possibility some youngsters may move from OxyContin to heroin, he worries.

And Capito wants more federal attention to both guidelines for doctors who prescribe painkillers and educating them on how to avoid creating new heroin addicts. She and a bipartisan group of other senators are applauding new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines on the subject - and urging intensified federal attention to it.

Both senators are well aware of other weapons in the war against drug abuse, including treatment for addicts and law enforcement.

But they are right in their focus on painkillers - and should be encouraged to continue attempts to shut down the pipeline that leads from well-meaning prescriptions to heroin addiction.