ANTI-ADDICT ENGINEERING

The makers of the prescription painkiller OxyContin announced Wednesday that
they are experimenting with a new pill that will have the same potency as
the current drug but is engineered in a way that will make it less appealing
to those who try to abuse it.

Law enforcement agencies across the nation are reporting a spike in abuse of
the drug. Some otherwise law-abiding citizens are getting hooked on the
prescription drug, and an underground market is burgeoning. Duane Blair,
sheriff of Washington Parish, admitted abusing the drug and resigned earlier
this year after federal authorities charged him with prescription fraud. In
June he pleaded guilty to illegally altering his doctor's prescription to
increase the dosage of the pills.

People who abuse the drug often do so by crushing the pills and then
snorting the powder or mixing it with water and injecting it. Officials at
Purdue Pharma LP, the manufacturer of the medicine, say they believe they
can embed the pills with a narcotic antagonist that would be activated only
when the pills are cut or crushed.

If the manufacturer is able to disarm the drug, that would be a triumph of
engineering. While the primary responsibility for avoiding addiction lies
with individuals, a pill designed to thwart abuse is a goal the drug maker
ought to pursue.