MOST ARE INVOLVED WITH OXYCONTIN, AS IN FEBRUARY ROUNDUP

6 Of 16 In Drug Bust Arrested Last Time

When police started rounding up 16 people in a drug investigation
yesterday, there were some familiar names on the list: six people arrested
in February in the biggest drug bust in state history.

State police Detective Dan Smoot said people usually stop selling drugs
while waiting to go to federal prison. Things have been different with
OxyContin, the prescription painkiller that has caused concerns about abuse
this year in Kentucky and around the country.

"On OxyContin, they just won't quit until you get them in" prison, said
Smoot, who took part in both investigations.

OxyContin was a key target of the roundup in February, called OxyFest 2001,
which resulted in more than 200 arrests. Yesterday's roundup was the first
phase of a continuing investigation targeting abuse of the drug.

Most charges against the 16 people named in the new indictments involve
OxyContin, according to the office of U.S. Attorney Gregory F. Van Tatenhove.

Tatenhove's office did not provide a complete list of those indicted
yesterday, but confirmed that six people arrested in the February roundup
face new charges. They are Steve Morris, Jim Smith, Hazel Williams,
Bridgette Boggs and David Begley, of Perry County, and Wendy Gayheart, who
had a Breathitt County address.

The new charges against Morris involve weapons violations; the others face
new drug charges, as well as a felony charge of committing a crime while
free on bond. All had pleaded guilty on the earlier charges -- and in some
cases had started serving their sentences -- before the new indictments
came down.

OxyContin has been hailed as a near miracle by chronic pain sufferers
because of its strength and time-release formula. But police say abuse of
the drug grew dramatically in the last two years, contributing to overdose
deaths, leading to thefts and robberies, and stretching treatment resources.

Between January 2000 and May 2001, there were 69 overdose deaths in
Kentucky involving oxycodone, the drug that makes up OxyContin and some
other prescription medications, according to the Appalachia High Intensity
Drug Trafficking Area.

The February arrests prompted Gov. Paul Patton to appoint a task force that
studied ways to reduce prescription-drug abuse.

Yesterday, authorities said that while it still causes problems, OxyContin
abuse in Kentucky has improved in some ways and some places over the last
seven months. Others said they haven't seen any improvement.

On one front, enforcement and education efforts and widespread media
attention have caused many doctors to be more careful in prescribing the
drug. That has reduced the amount available for abuse, police said.

"I think they've cut down on handing it out as freely as they did," said
Detective Richard Ray of the Pike County Sheriff's Office.

Reports about the existence of the state's prescription-tracking system
also have discouraged some people from going to several different doctors
seeking pills, called "doctor shopping," police said.

In Hazard, police Chief Ronnie Joe Bryant said that overdose cases, thefts
and shoplifting associated with OxyContin have gone down from a year ago.

"It's definitely getting better," he said.

In Lexington, however, there have been six pharmacy robberies since Sept. 3
in which an armed man demanded OxyContin, said Lt. P.T. Richardson. Police
charged James William Cantrell, 32, of 1101 Centre Parkway in five of the
robberies yesterday.

There is evidence the supply of OxyContin is down, because the street price
has gone up from $1 a milligram to $1.50, police said. But traffickers are
still finding pills to sell.

Smoot said much of the OxyContin for sale illegally in Eastern Kentucky is
coming in from Indiana and Ohio. In some cases, people trade Eastern
Kentucky marijuana for OxyContin, he said.

"We've identified some pipelines coming into Kentucky," he said.

Harlan County Sheriff Steve Duff said the problem of OxyContin abuse is not
getting better. People still doctor-shop, sometimes outside the region, and
bring in pills from out of state and even Mexico, he said.

OxyContin is still the drug of choice for abusers, Duff said, and people
still commit thefts and other crimes to get it. Just this week, his
officers arrested a woman whose husband was prostituting her to get money
for OxyContin, Duff said.

"We're not seeing any less abuse," he said.