OXYCODONE GAINS IN POPULARITY; NEW PAINKILLER WIDELY ABUSED

Vicodin, a powerful painkiller, was a drug of choice 10 years ago,
police say.

Five years ago, it was Dilaudid, tablets that have two to eight times
the pain-killing effect of morphine.

Both drugs are widely abused, but users today have a new, more powerful
pill available to them, usually illegally - oxycodone.

One form, sold as OxyContin, is the most powerful oxycodone-based
painkiller on the market.

OxyContin is a prescription painkiller typically prescribed for terminal
cancer patients and other people with severe chronic pain.

OxyContin uses a "mesh" within the pill to deliver the medicine slowly
and evenly for a 24-hour period. Drug abusers, however, remove the
time-release coating then crush the pills and either snort the powder or
cook it down and inject it.

Both methods lead to a quick, powerful buzz, Wong said. But taking a
time-released dosage all at once, instead of gradually over hours, can
cause severe problems including coma or death. And because OxyContin
comes in strengths up to 16 times greater than related medications,
taking it with alcohol virtually guarantees death, Wong said.

Accidental overdoses happen, too. Many people who have difficulty
swallowing pills assume it's safe to chew or crush pills, doctors say.
But with OxyContin, that's a deadly assumption. OxyContin should never
be crushed, chewed or broken, said a spokesman for Purdue Pharma,
OxyContin's manufacturer.

In Brevard County, 20 people died last year as a result of oxycodone
overdoses, said Brevard Sheriff's Commander Mark Riley. This month, two
people have overdosed and died, he added.

Last month, a 19-year-old man was prescribed OxyContin by his dentist
after having his wisdom teeth removed. The next day he was dead, said
Sheriff's Commander Mark Riley. Although the death looks accidental, it
is still under investigation.

"Heroin users like OxyContin because of the reliability and the purity
of the drug," Brevard County Sheriff's Sgt. Mike Wong said. "It's
cheaper than heroin, and if junkies can't get one drug, they revert to
the other."

One hit of the prescription drug bought illegally costs about
$1-per-milligram, meaning a common, 10 milligram pill may cost $10; a 20
milligram pill costs around $20 on the streets. The high lasts for up to
12 hours. Heroin costs about 13 cents per milligram, but typically is
only about 7 percent pure, Wong said.

Florida officials have been tracking abuse of oxycodone and hydrocodone
for less than two years. In Brevard County, 20 people died last year as
a result of oxycodone overdoses, said Brevard Sheriff's Commander Mark
Riley. This month, two people have overdosed and died.

"The danger of death posed by the abuse of this drug warrants an
immediate notification of the public," said Al Dennis, the FDLE's public
information director."

The estimated number of emergency department visits nationwide involving
oxycodone were stable from 1990 through 1996. However, the number of
emergency room visits doubled from 3,190 episodes in 1996 to 6,429 in
1999.

Local numbers of visits related to oxycodone abuse were not available,
Health First spokeswoman Lisa Crites said.

"It's a wonder drug for those who are in chronic pain," said Melbourne
police Commander Mark Laderwarg. "People get on it legitimately, because
they suffered some injury, and become addicted. That's when they end up
turning to the streets."

Another way for addicts to secure the pills is to go "doctor shopping"
- - visiting
different physicians to obtain prescriptions for OxyContin, said Cmdr.
James
Driggers of the Satellite Beach Police Department.

"They may have started out going to doctors locally," Driggers said.
"But soon they are out traveling the county searching for doctors that
will give them the prescription."