TRENDY PILL PIERCES LOCAL DRUG SCENE

A popular painkiller with the power to soothe a cancer patient's worst
aches is making its way onto the area's illicit drug scene, increasing the
chances for overdoses by addicts or first-time users who may not understand
that even one dose of the opiate can kill.

It's called OxyContin.

Favored by doctors for its time-release effect designed to last 12 hours,
it is a trade name of the narcotic oxycodone hydrochloride. Patented five
years ago by Purdue Pharma LP, of Stamford, Conn., experts say it's an
answer to prayers for patients in chronic pain who need constant relief
from crippling medical conditions.

But for some abusers -- including what experts in the area suspect are an
increasing number of local addicts -- it's a "poor man's heroin" that can
kill with a single, improperly taken dose.

Although prescribed in pill form, abusers often chew the tablets, crush
them and snort the powder, or dissolve the pills in water and inject the
solution, according to the National Drug Intelligence Center, which is part
of the U.S. Department of Justice. Those methods can lead to overdoses
because the medication is not designed to be absorbed all at once.

Blamed for numerous deaths in Kentucky and Virginia, the drug also has
gained popularity in Maine, Maryland, Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
Now the drug appears to be moving east from Philadelphia and Gloucester County.

Atlantic City police made their first OxyContin arrest March 7 in a raid at
a North Tennessee Avenue apartment, Police Department spokesman Sgt.
Michael Tullio said.

After an investigation by Detective James Brennan, vice detectives
reportedly seized 23 OxyContin pills and 44 grams of marijuana. They
arrested city resident Renea Adams, 36, and signed a warrant for a male
suspect's arrest.

"We're aware of the problems it's causing in other cities," Tullio said.
"The narcotics unit is keeping an eye on it to make sure it doesn't become
a problem."

Police in nearby municipalities also are on the lookout.

"We're waiting," Pleasantville Lt. Roy Heintz said. "Usually it takes about
a month after it hits Atlantic City to get here."

"I'm sure if it's in other areas it's in Galloway as well," Galloway
Detective Sgt. Pete Romanelli said. "We'll be speaking to our sources as we
would in any drug investigation."

As a general guideline, addicts suffering from problems linked to a
particular drug begin showing up in clinics and hospitals about a year
before use becomes popular in an area, experts say.

So far, no one in the Atlantic County area has overdosed on OxyContin, as
far as emergency room doctors can tell.

"So far, so good here," Shore Memorial Hospital spokeswoman Julie
McWilliams said.

The same is true for Atlantic City Medical Center, said Dr. John Becher,
head of the emergency service department at the hospital's City Division.

"Usually the emergency departments are where it happens and usually there's
communication between different emergency-room departments and that is
communicated to authorities," he said. "That hasn't happened yet."

But it seems potential overdoses are almost inevitable, some say. And area
drug counselors and clinic doctors say OxyContin already has arrived.

"We know it exists and is abused. We don't have numbers," said Nancy
McKinney, of Family Service Association in Absecon, a nonprofit agency that
offers substance-abuse counseling.

Bob Zlotnick is worried that teenagers around here will die before a
message gets through that OxyContin can be a killer.

Zlotnick is executive director of Atlantic Prevention Resources in
Pleasantville, which provides free outreach programs for schools and other
groups.

"The problem exists in Atlantic County," he said.

The latest story circulating among counselors is one about a "mom and pop"
pharmacy in the western part of the county where a teenage employee has
been sneaking one OxyContin pill out of every prescription and selling them
on the street, according to the counselor.

"When kids split them or crush them up, they're bypassing that safety
mechanism, bypassing that time release," Zlotnick said. "It's definitely
out there and kids know about it. It travels through the grapevine and kids
try it."

Brian Kelley, a pharmacist at Eckerd Drugs in Pleasantville, said he has
heard some abusers use the drug to either "come down" or to maintain a high.

And the central nervous system depressant is used by addicts to "take the
edge off cocaine or speed," or to maintain a heroin high, according to Kelley.

"There's always someone in here trying to pass a false prescription," he
said, adding that special restrictions are in place to alert pharmacists
and doctors about such frauds.

But besides fraud and abuse, doctors such as Rachel Clark-Vetri, who treats
patients at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, have other worries.

She says a backlash against OxyContin is making it more difficult to
prescribe the drug for patients who need it.

Some insurance companies now require patients to get a "prior
authorization" before a prescription for the narcotic can be filled.

"This is not a good thing for patients who really need it," Clark-Vetri
said. "It could also make it more complicated to increase their dose.
Unfortunately anytime you have these narcotics out on the street there's
going to be someone who wants to abuse them."

In this area, police, counselors and doctors hope it's not too late to
prevent an epidemic of OxyContin deaths.

"It's a shame that people keep going out there and trying to find ways to
get high," Absecon Police Lt. Charles Smith said. "We haven't had any
contact with this drug. ... Hopefully, we don't have any in the future."

Zlotnick, the outreach counselor, also is hoping for the best.

"Our message is, 'Do not use this drug, especially broken pills or crushed
pills,'" he said. "We acknowledge that kids will experiment. Do not take
the pill unless it's in its original form or it may kill you -- and it may
kill you anyway. It's like a crap shoot. It's like Russian roulette."