POTENT DRUG PACKS A PUNCH

Oxycodone hydrochloride: Oxycodone is a semi-synthetic opioid, structurally
related to codeine and about equal in potency to morphine. It is a white,
odourless crystalline powder.

The milky liquid from the opium poppy plant seed pods is extracted and dried
to form opium powder. Various alkaloids from this powder can be isolated to
form opioids such as morphine, codeine and oxycodone. The alkaloid in
oxycodone is thebaine.

It was first synthesized from morphine in 1874. In 1898 Bayer released what
was to become its best known drug -- apart from aspirin -- heroin. The drug
was named after the German word for hero, heroisch. Its substitute,
methadone, was initially called dolophine from the Latin dolor, meaning
pain.

During the 19th century, laudanum (opium dissolved in alcohol) and other
opium products were used in Great Britain and the U.S. to treat various
ailments, including teething soreness in babies and fever and cough in
children and adults.

Sold under the brand name Eukodal, oxycodone's euphoric heroin-like effects
were first noted in Germany in the 1920s. It became widely abused in the
U.S. in the 1960s.

Oxycodone is used for mild to moderate pain control, chronic pain and is an
effective analgesic for the treatment of cancer pain.

Five mg of oxycodone is equivalent to 30 mg of codeine when taken orally. In
non-addicted people, 10 mg orally is equivalent to 10 mg of morphine
administered subcutaneously (under the skin).

OxyContin, now more widely abused than other oxycodone products, was
introduced in the U.S. in 1996 by Purdue Pharma of Stamford, Conn., and in
Canada in 1997. It is the brand name of a 12-hour slow-release formulation
of oxycodone hydrochloride.

OxyContin is reported to be twice as potent as morphine.

Common street names and terms associated with OxyContin include:

Oxy

Hillbilly heroin

OC

Oxycotton

Killer

Kicker

Doctor shopping/double-doctoring: obtaining prescriptions from various
physicians.

Pill ladies: female senior citizens who sell their prescriptions.

Pharming: consuming a mixture of prescription medications.

Percodan: oxycodone mixed with aspirin.

Percocet: oxycodone mixed with acetaminophen.

OxyContin: a controlled-release form of oxycodone.

Dilaudid (hydromorphone hydrochloride) is a ketone of morphine, an opioid
narcotic manufactured by Abbott Laboratories Inc. It has two to eight times
the painkilling effects of morphine and a euphoric effect similar to heroin.