HAYWOOD DETECTIVES TO INVESTIGATE DOCTORS AS DRUG PROBE CONTINUES

WAYNESVILLE - A drug bust that resulted in five convictions in Haywood
County for selling OxyContin has moved to a second phase -
investigating the doctors who over-prescribe the highly addictive painkiller.

"I've asked the State Bureau of Investigation to give me a copy of
their reports," District Attorney Charles Hipps said Thursday after
announcing that the last of five major OxyContin dealers was convicted
on drug trafficking charges recently. "(The SBI) has had some contact
with the medical boards."

Hipps credited the five convictions to teamwork between town and state
law enforcement agencies, and an extensive investigation by the
Haywood County Sheriff's Office.

Sheriff Tom Alexander said the five convicted dealers were at the top
of a drug abuse cycle that has resulted in several pharmacy break-ins
and property crimes, and might have played a role in at least two deaths.

"These are major people who we have been able to work on," Alexander
said.

OxyContin is a slow-release narcotic painkiller. It is widely
prescribed for victims of moderate-to-severe chronic pain resulting
from such problems as arthritis, back trouble and cancer. One pill is
designed to last 12 hours, but those who abuse OxyContin usually crush
the medicine and then snort or inject it, producing a quick,
heroin-like high. The federal Drug Enforcement Agency blames the
painkiller for 117 deaths in 31 states in the past two years.

Hipps said Thursday that the so-called "hillbilly heroin" has become
popular in small towns throughout the southern Appalachian Mountains
because it is easy to get and legal to possess. The problems start,
Hipps said, when patients who have legal prescriptions start abusing
or selling the drug and shopping for doctors who will supply large
amounts of it.

Alexander said his office would not have been as successful without
help from several sources, including concerned residents who have
helped investigators target dealers.

"It's very important that the general public continues to give us
information," he said.

Alexander called the five convictions a "good start" on the problem
and said his office will continue to investigate OxyContin
trafficking.