OXYCONTIN ABUSE SPREADS INTO GEORGIA

ATHENS, Ga. - A powerful prescription pill meant to ease the suffering of
chronic pain sufferers is fast becoming the new Quaalude - heavily abused
and sought after by addicts. Even its deadly dangers offer a twisted
temptation for those seeking a high akin to heroin. OxyContin - a
6-year-old drug produced by drug maker Purdue Pharma - has begun to reach
the wrong hands in Athens, just as it has spread as a scourge among
blue-collar addicts throughout Appalachia and the Midwest. Abusers
typically crush the pink pills, combine them with water and inject the
mixture into their veins to nullify the time-release design of the drug.

''Two years ago, we would have said there was no problem,'' said Rick
Allen, the deputy director of the Georgia Drug and Narcotics Agency, which
regulates and enforces drug laws among physicians and pharmacies. ''Now
it's gone totally out of sight.''

Mr. Allen estimates as many as 100 Georgians have died from ''Oxy''
overdoses in the past 12 months alone.

Its prevalence is approaching the epidemic levels that have crippled
communities in Kentucky and Ohio, Mr. Allen said.

''As one old-time detective told me, 'If you haven't seen it, you haven't
been looking for it.'''

Last week, two Athens women were jailed on charges of obtaining and
distributing 25 OxyContin pills without a prescription, among the first
arrests involving the drug in Clarke County.

Addiction treatment centers such as the Commencement Center at Athens
Regional Medical Center have seen a dramatic rise in the number of
OxyContin addicts from the Athens area.

In Athens, the ''pillhead'' drug of choice remains hydrocodone, a less
powerful, more readily available painkiller, said Sgt. Mike Hunsinger, the
commander of the Athens-Clarke Police Drug and Vice Unit. ''But OxyContin
is coming on fast,'' he added.

Abuse of OxyContin sister medicine Lortab, a brand of hydrocodone, has been
around for some time, according to Janis Marlin, a spokeswoman for
Advantage Behavior Health Systems.

''We see Lortab all the time,'' Ms. Marlin said. ''We've only seen
OxyContin for the last few months. We expect to see more and more of it.''

It is common for people already addicted to Lortab to take OxyContin
simultaneously to enhance the drugs' effects, according to Commencement
Center Director Jim Hinzman. The combination of these painkillers with
other drugs and alcohol can be deadly, he said.

''People don't 'just drink' today,'' Dr. Hinzman said. ''But one drink or
one pill could be your last because it can shut down your respiratory
system.'' Other drugs use the same active ingredients, but addicts have
discovered that the time-release design of OxyContin makes for a more
potent pill.

''You're out of it steadily for a longer period of time,'' Sgt. Hunsinger said.

''Originally, the drug was for hospice patients and chronic-pain use, but
the street people have found out about them,'' Mr. Allen said. And
prescriptions have risen.

Law enforcement officials complain that too many prescriptions are being
written for OxyContin - a drug that should be reserved for the most severe
of pain sufferers: terminally ill cancer patients, people with chronic bone
disorders.

''(Addicts) shop around until they find a doctor that will write a
prescription for it,'' Mr. Allen said. ''Some doctors won't touch it with a
10-foot pole, but others will give 100 OxyContin for a twisted toenail.''

Authorities have charged a handful of physicians in Georgia for dispensing
OxyContin prescriptions too readily, but no pharmacists have faced charges
- - ''yet,'' Mr. Allen said.

''It seems doctors have not been properly educated about what it really
needs to be used for,'' Mr. Allen said. ''There are doctors everywhere
writing prescriptions for it - and we're not really sure if they know what
they're doing.''