OXYCONTIN ABUSE DECLINING?

Maybe In Southwest, But It's Going North

ROANOKE - Abuse of the prescription painkiller OxyContin has leveled off in
Southwest Virginia, members of a state task force said yesterday, but they
warned that abuse of the potent opioid is still a growing problem in
Northern Virginia.

"Our detectives tell us they're running into OxyContin in almost half the
cases they work," said Lt. Stephan Hudson of the Prince William County
Police Department.

Compared with the mountaineers of Southwest Virginia, Northern Virginians
were slow to discover the abuse potential of the painkiller. In the past
year, authorities say, OxyContin abuse has created an epidemic of crime in
the mountainous corner of the state as abusers robbed pharmacies, forged
prescriptions and stole guns and blue jeans to get the money to buy it.

The problem was so severe that earlier this year the attorney general's
office set up the Prescription Drug Task Force. The task force, which met
yesterday in Roanoke, is considering recommending that the state set up a
monitoring system to keep track of all prescriptions for drugs like
OxyContin that have high abuse potential.

Yesterday, the task force for the first time heard some good news about the
state's OxyContin problem.

"I believe we have made some headway," said Lee County prosecutor Tammy
McElyea, a member of the task force. "We hope that we have peaked and have
seen a decrease" in abuse.

McElyea credited the decline to news reports about the drug, as well as
increased sting operations that involved help from the drug's maker, Purdue
Pharma L.P. of Connecticut.

Last year, McElyea said, OxyContin pills were selling for $1 per milligram.
This year, she said, the price has jumped dramatically.

"An 80mg pill now sells for $120," she said. "Any time you drive up the
cost, it's a good sign. It means it's not as readily available as it used
to be."

Though the drug is meant to give pain sufferers long-lasting relief,
abusers have found they can get high by crushing it and snorting it or by
dissolving it in water and injecting it. The abuse can be deadly. As many
as 50 Virginians, almost all of them from Southwest Virginia, have
overdosed on the drug in the past four years, according to the state
medical examiner's office.

Tazewell County prosecutor Dennis Lee, also on the task force, said he's
seen a decline in abuse. "We've not seen as many violent crimes, such as
robbery, in the past two months. Hopefully, things are on the downturn."

Del. Jackie Stump, D-Buchanan, said he believes any decline of abuse stems
from the highly publicized prosecution of three Southwest Virginia doctors
who were found guilty of prescribing the drug for no medical reason. "I
think they know now that you're serious about going after doctors who are
bad doctors," said Stump, a task force member.

McElyea, Lee and Stump cautioned, however, that though abuse seems to have
tapered off, it is still a significant problem in the coalfields. The task
force is preparing to ask the General Assembly for money next year to pay
for education, rehabilitation and prevention programs.

Dr. J. David Haddox of Purdue Pharma said the situation is improving, with
doctors becoming better educated about OxyContin. More than 450 Virginia
doctors have ordered the company's new tamper-proof prescription pads, he
said, and the company is three to five years from introducing a pill that
doesn't work if crushed, making it of no use to abusers.