TREATMENT AND PREVENTION NEEDED TO FIGHT OXYCONTIN

Thanks to the efforts of medical and law enforcement officials in
Washington County, drug abusers are finding it more difficult to obtain
OxyContin, the prescription painkiller that has plagued impoverished
eastern Maine since shortly after the drug's introduction in 1996.

Legislators have toughened smuggling laws to help reduce the flow of
narcotics from Canada. Police are cracking down on dealers. Doctors and
pharmacists are more careful with prescriptions and wisely are exploring
other strategies to combat chronic pain, such as physical therapy, yoga and
treatment of underlying depression.

As the supply of OxyContin dwindles and the price for a daily fix rises to
$300, addicts are faced with a number of choices to support their habits.
Some have turned to burglary or prostitution for their drug money.
Increasingly, others have taken the dangerous path of heroin, a cheaper but
more lethal alternative to OxyContin.

"It's beginning to be seen that there's real potential for heroin abuse to
take off," said James Cameron, Maine's assistant attorney general and
coordinator of the state's drug prosecutors, about the drug problem in
Washington County.

At $25 a day, heroin is more affordable. It delivers a similar sense of
euphoria. It also carries greater risk of overdose. That is why the drug
abuse in Maine's poorest regions as well as in its urban centers must be
addressed as a societal as well as a criminal problem, from the preventive
as well as the prosecutorial end.

OxyContin has spawned a population of addicts who need rehabilitation.
Restricting the drug's availability is part of the solution, but effective
treatment is necessary as well. Without treatment, addicts simply will
switch to drugs that are cheaper and easier to obtain.