KEEP DRUGS OUT OF REACH A report presented Tuesday by the Healthy Gloucester Collaborative on local OxyContin and heroin use was both stark and disturbing. And it should lay to rest any doubt that OxyContin, while it is a legal substance prescribed by doctors and distributed at pharmacies, is a gateway drug more powerful and dangerous than alcohol or marijuana. It is true that OxyContin, when used as directed, can be safe as a powerful and effective painkiller. But, as the report shows, its power is too frequently abused. It is too easy to get, and too easy to get addicted. One addict said he started using prescription painkillers when he had a tooth removed. The prescription came with free refills. Within 30 days he was addicted, and when he couldn't afford the pills any more, he moved on to heroin. And that is just one story among dozens heard by those who surveyed focus groups of users aged 18 to 25. According to Jack Vondras, head of the city's Health Department, "most of them had never used OxyContin before. And when they did, they had a very fast track to heroin." The participants in the survey also reported that they felt "safe" taking OxyContin, since it came through approved medical channels. By the time they were addicted and descended into heroin use, it was too late. The crisis in Gloucester is worse than it is statewide. Admission of local addicts to state treatment programs five years ago was at a rate nearly 70 percent greater than the state average. And the evidence is that things are getting worse, both on Cape Ann and throughout the region. Local police departments continue to report increases in home invasions, shoplifting and armed robberies, the kinds of crimes that produce quick cash to feed drug habits. The Essex County drug task force confiscated substantially larger amounts of OxyContin pills and heroin in 2005 than it did the previous year. There are efforts, both in place and under consideration, from the state Department of Public Health to District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett to the local level, to confront the problem. Blodgett has called for more efforts to educate both students and parents. Yet it remains an open question whether education alone can stem the tide of drug abuse. Drug Abuse Resistance Education, the well-known D.A.R.E. program, has been around for 19 years but didn't prevent the rising tide of opiate use. Activists hope that specifically targeting opiates will be more effective than crusading against drug use in general, but it will be years before there is evidence to confirm that. There are calls for more treatment. Years of research into addiction have shown that there may be a genetic component to it, that children born to alcoholic parents are more likely to become alcoholics themselves, even if adopted and raised by nonalcoholics. But unlike some genetic diseases, merely carrying the genes for chemical dependency doesn't mean a child will become an addict. The harder it is for them to get their hands on legal or illegal substances, the less likely it is they'll get hooked. So when it comes to OxyContin or other, similar painkillers, it is imperative that access to them be more tightly controlled. The state has proposed new regulations that would require those getting OxyContin prescriptions to show an ID, which would be fed into a database and presumably curb the practice of seeking multiple prescriptions for the same ailment from different doctors. That is a good start. But there should also be a push to urge doctors to be cautious about how they prescribe such medications. They should be part of a team that works to make sure prescriptions are not duplicated. Education and treatment are important. But access is even more important. Children cannot become addicted to drugs they can't get.
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