DOSE OF DEATH: PAIN PILLS

The No. 1 killer drugs in Florida are not cocaine, heroin or Ecstasy. They
are powerful new versions of oxycodone and hydrocodone, painkillers that
state officials began tracking only this past July.

State records show that these twin synthetic forms of opium killed 152
people from July to December last year. That compares with 129 deaths
attributed to cocaine and 25 tied to Ecstasy in the same time period.

Nearly one out of three of those fatalities occurred in Central Florida.
And as was true in the rest of the state, many of the dead were middle-aged
professionals who got their first doses of the painkillers legally from
their doctors. Sold under the brand names OxyContin, Vicodin, Lortabs,
Percodan and Percocet, these narcotics have put a different face on drug abuse.

"Executives, cops, doctors, pharmacists, lawyers -- I've arrested them
all," Orlando police Detective Lloyd Randolph said.

Many addicts say they started taking the pills after a back injury or oral
surgery. And although painkillers have been around for years, Randolph said
he has seen a definite increase in addicts in the past year. He gets 10 to
15 calls a week from pharmacies and doctors reporting people hooked on
oxycodone and hydrocodone.

"It's like somebody opened Pandora's box, and it's running rampant now," he
said.

Available records show that of the 46 men in Central Florida who died from
these narcotics, 30 were ages 35 to 50. Only eight Central Florida women died.

Drugmaker takes action

Randolph recalls one Orlando veterinarian who was arrested after taking
hundreds of hydrocodone tablets daily. The vet supplied himself through
prescriptions written under the names of his patients' pets.

Two weeks ago, OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma of Stamford, Conn., suspended
distribution of its largest-dose 160-milligram tablets, prompted by reports
of more than 120 deaths nationwide tied to its time-release form of oxycodone.

"We've developed a 10-point plan to try and curb illegal use," company
spokesman James Heins said. "Meanwhile, we felt it was prudent to take it
off the market."

That powerful dose of OxyContin has become the drug of choice for many
addicts who crush the tablets and snort them, which produces an intense
euphoria that can prove fatal.

A Lake Mary man knows about the problem first-hand.

Six years ago, Philip was making good money installing car-stereo systems.
He and his wife divided their time between their South Florida home and
visits to his parents in Central Florida.

Then he hurt his back at work and a doctor prescribed the painkiller
Vicodin. Philip, who had never had a problem with alcohol or drugs, became
hooked. Before long, he was playing one doctor off another to get more
drugs, until he was taking as many as 80 painkillers a day. Eventually, at
the suggestion of a street dealer, he started using heroin.

"It's definitely a different kind of addiction," said Philip, who asked
that his last name not be used to protect his family and livelihood. "The
fact that it starts out legal, someone gives you a 'permission slip' and
your insurance pays for it, makes it easy."

Although no figures exist to show how many people nationally are hooked on
oxycodone and hydrocodone, an estimated 9 million people used prescription
drugs for nonmedical reasons in 1999.

Philip, 30, now is working hard to regain his life, having just completed a
11/2-year program at a methadone clinic.

"I feel like I've lost so much," he said. "It's terrible to see the kind of
destruction I've caused."

Jody Scott, clinical director at the Center for Drug Free Living in
Orlando, called oxycodone and hydrocodone the "painkillers du jour." Of the
center's roughly 180 methadone clients, about a third are prescription-drug
abusers, she said.

Addicts Have Strategies

Randolph, who advises police agencies around the state about
prescription-drug enforcement, said catching the abusers is difficult.

Addicts use several strategies, including stealing prescription pads,
making copies of legitimate prescriptions or creating their own
prescriptions on home computers. Most pharmacy chains don't have the
databases to sound an alarm if the same patient is getting narcotics from
more than one of their stores, Randolph said.

Dr. Dev Chacko, chairman of Florida Hospital's psychiatric department, said
many of the addicts he treats say they have no difficulty getting dozens of
pills by juggling doctors, often in different cities. One drug counselor
said that while some doctors are "stingy" with prescriptions for pain
pills, "others write them like it was candy."

Ross Frazier, a spokesman for the American Medical Association in Chicago,
said the organization does not yet have an official policy responding to
the oxycodone and hydrocodone problem.

"Pain-medicine abuse is not coming from people who get them legitimately,"
he said. "Most are getting them illegally."

A mini-crime wave has flourished in Central Florida to support the growing
demand for these drugs.

Brevard County authorities recently charged three men with a string of
pharmacy robberies in which painkillers were taken at gunpoint. Deputies
found two bottles of OxyContin when they searched the suspects.

Two University of Florida students will go in front of a judge June 4 to
face manslaughter charges over the death of classmate Matthew Kaminer.
Authorities said Ying Che Lo, 19, stole OxyContin from the drugstore where
he worked. He gave one of the tablets to his roommate, Naeem Diamond
Lakhani, 19, who in turn gave it to Kaminer, police said. The 18-year-old
took the pill along with a few drinks, and he died the next day.

4 Doctors, 6 Pharmacies

Philip knew all the tricks. At one time, he was going to four doctors and
six pharmacies, while he hid the addiction from his wife. He secretly kept
his drugs at work. At day's end, he would take enough pills to get him
through the night, then pray he wouldn't throw up and go into withdrawal.

On the occasions when his wife found pills in his pockets, he would promise
to kick the habit. He tried a detox clinic. But within days, he was forging
prescriptions and buying painkillers on the street. That's when his dealer
suggested using heroin instead.

"I couldn't afford to buy enough pills," said Philip, who explained the
cost ate through his salary in no time. The current street-level price for
OxyContin has zoomed to $40 to $65 a pill, police said. Legally, these same
pills can cost anywhere from less than a dollar for the least powerful to
about $8 a pill for the stronger varieties.

But Philip had other problems.

With prescription pills, he had some control. At the height of his
addiction, 10 pills would last four hours. It was "easy math," he said.

But heroin sent him into a haze. There was no fooling co-workers or his
family. He realized he would have to make radical changes or die.

He left his job and his wife and moved into his mother's Windermere home.
He entered the Center for Drug Free Living's methadone treatment program
and started climbing out of his drug-induced hell.

Today, he's clean, back at work and reunited with his wife.

Philip hopes his story will alert others who don't realize they could be
traveling down a deadly path.

Randolph, the police detective, shares the same concern.

"It's a sleeping giant," Randolph said. "People don't realize it can kill them."