SEN. WARNER CALLS FOR DRUG HEARING

WASHINGTON - Congress needs to examine the "emerging crisis of OxyContin
abuse," Sen. John W. Warner wrote Monday in requesting a hearing by the
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

Warner, R-Va., asked Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., the committee
chairman, for a hearing on issues surrounding the drug. Warner said its
abuse "has spawned a crime wave in southwest Virginia and across the border
into eastern Kentucky and West Virginia."

OxyContin overdoses have contributed to at least 43 known deaths in
Virginia and more than 120 nationwide, Warner wrote.

The drug is a synthetic morphine often used to treat chronic pain in cancer
patients. Abusers say it brings a high much like that of heroin if crushed
and snorted or injected.