NEW DRUG ABUSE CLOSELY WATCHED

A Problem On The East Coast, Painkiller Oxycontin Is Growing Concern In
Minnesota

Authorities in Minnesota and across the nation are on guard against
abusers of a powerful painkiller that has spawned an illicit market in
Appalachia and led to pharmacy robberies in parts of the East Coast.

OxyContin is a narcotic pain reliever, derived from opium, often
prescribed to terminally ill cancer patients. On the market since 1996,
it has helped ease pain and improve the lives of more than 1 million
patients, said its developers. Its strength and duration, though, has
also attracted abusers.

More than 200 people were arrested during an eastern Kentucky bust of an
OxyContin distribution network in February. Boston-area police are
investigating at least 14 recent pharmacy robberies where thieves were
in search of the drug. OxyContin abuse has become a "major problem" in
portions of the United States, according to the National Drug
Intelligence Center.

In Minnesota, the drug battle has focused on methamphetamine labs,
marijuana, cocaine and club drugs like ecstasy, said Tim O'Malley,
special agent in charge of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension's special
investigations unit. But law enforcement officials are watching trends
on the East and West coasts for a possible influx here, he said.

"We sometimes see trends on either coast that then come our way,"
O'Malley said. So far, OxyContin has not been a major problem in
Minnesota. But it is a growing concern. In 1996, the state's crime lab
investigated three samples involving OxyContin. In 2000, there were 22,
O'Malley said. By comparison, last year the lab investigated nearly
1,129 samples involving cocaine.

OxyContin is becoming a more prevalent drug of abuse in certain parts of
northern Minnesota, according to drug abuse study by the Hazelden
Foundation, a nonprofit agency based in Center City that studies
alcoholism, drug addiction and related diseases. The Minnesota users
typically were experienced heroin addicts who returned to their
hometowns to obtain prescriptions from unsuspecting rural doctors.

The abuse of OxyContin was first noticed in rural Maine and parts of
Appalachia, including eastern Kentucky and West Virginia. These
communities do not have access to markets of illicit drugs such as
cocaine and heroin, said Charles Miller, spokesman for the National Drug
Intelligence Center. Many also have aging populations as well as higher
rates of cancer and other chronic injuries. The painkiller's abuse is
more prevalent in some areas because there are more prescriptions there.

But the drug's abuse is beginning to show up in major urban areas, in
particular Philadelphia, Boston, Cincinnati and parts of Florida, Miller
said. And because OxyContin is available nationwide, there is a chance
that it could be abused anywhere in the country -- including Minnesota,
he said.

The drug's abuse caught OxyContin's developer by surprise, said Robin
Hogen, spokesman for Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma. OxyContin is
designed to release its active ingredient, oxycodone, over 12 hours.
Oxycodone has been a prescribed ingredient for pain for more than half a
century, he added.

Abusers have found a way to get an immediate high, though, by grinding
the addictive OxyContin pills to snort or inject. Underground prices for
a 40-milligram pill have reached $40. Police officials in several states
say OxyContin can also be dangerous if abused, and such use may have
been a factor in several deaths.

Missed in all the news about OxyContin abuse is the drug's benefit to
terminally ill patients and others suffering chronic pain, Hogen said.
It is helping more and more people near the end of their lives manage
their pain, said Julie K. Johnson, a Falcon Heights pharmacist and
executive vice president of the Minnesota Pharmacists Association.

Worried about the way its pills are being used, Purdue Pharma has taken
part in drug abuse prevention campaigns across the country. And it has
undertaken a $40 million effort to redesign OxyContin. The idea is to
continue the controlled release of oxycodone, but to also release a
counteragent that would negate its effects if the pill were crushed or
tampered with, Hogen said. It may be several years before such a pill is
available, he added.