SMART OXYCONTIN NEEDS QUICK DEBUT

The maker of OxyContin, a prescription painkiller that's linked to a
growing number of fatal drug overdoses, says it has come up with blueprints
for a "smart pill" that would be tougher to abuse.

That's great news.

The company says the new version of the painkilling capsule, still a long
way from the marketplace, would destroy its own narcotic ingredients if
crushed into a powder and snorted or injected -- the typical manner in
which it's now abused.

OxyContin, a remarkably effective painkiller, has been a blessing to cancer
patients and other chronic pain sufferers who understandably worry that the
current wave of abuse might result in the drug being pulled from the market.

That would be a true tragedy.

Medical research is often something that can't be rushed. But anything that
can be done to speed the debut of the new OxyContin would be clearly in the
public interest.