OVERDOSES IN EPIDEMIC PROPORTIONS FROM OXYCONTIN

Police believe more than a dozen people died last year in Etowah
County from drug overdoses.

Most of those likely were from OxyContin. Most of those who have died
are young adults, ranging from 18 to 30 years old, but a few are
older.

Only two people in the same age group were killed in automobile
accidents in Gadsden last year. At least three deaths in the last few
weeks are believed to be from OxyContin overdoses, Etowah County
Coroner Jason R. Maise said. Those cases are awaiting drug tests
results, he said. Between 10 and 15 deaths are believed to be from
drug overdoses, he said. It's the loss of young lives that has gotten
the attention of Sen. Larry Means, D-Attalla. Means is working on
legislation to address the growing problem related to OxyContin.
Gadsden police Sgt. Regina Gartman was elated to hear that Means
plans to introduce a bill in the next session of the Legislature,
which begins Feb. 6. The deaths of at least three young people in the
last few weeks have investigators searching for a way to stop the
OxyContin problem.

The problems with the drug, commonly called "Oxys" on the street,
surfaced in Gadsden and Etowah County two years ago. In reviewing old
files, Gartman said Gadsden's first case was worked on Jan. 4, 1999.
In just a few minutes, she pulled 18 case files of arrests for
possession, distribution or trafficking of the drug. The first death
linked specifically to "Oxys" by Gadsden narcotics officers was in
February 1999, Gartman said. A 26-year-old man was arrested on Feb.
18 for possession of "Oxys." He died on Feb. 27, she said.
Investigators termed the death as suspicious, but no autopsy was
done, she said. In the last year or so, Gadsden narcotics officers
have worked closely with Rainbow City narcotics officer Charles
Clifton. At least 12 OxyContin cases were worked in Rainbow City,
Gartman said. Narcotics officers are almost certain three deaths in
the last five weeks investigated in Gadsden are from OxyContin
overdoses, Gartman said. "We have heard of as many as nine in
Gadsden," Gartman said. It's hard to determine an exact cause of
death unless an autopsy is done, she said. Etowah County narcotics
officers know of similar cases where an OxyContin overdose is
suspected, but it cannot be proven without an autopsy, said Brantley
Bishop, who investigates prescription drug cases for the Etowah
County Drug and Major Crimes Task Force. Bishop said he began an
investigation one day in March of a 26-year-old man for forged
OxyContin prescriptions. Before the investigation progressed, Bishop
said he saw the man's obituary in the newspaper a few days later. The
death of a 40-year-old man last year was ruled a heart attack, but
family members know he was taking OxyContin and believe the drug led
to his death.

An autopsy was requested by the man's mother, but doctors refused.

She was given books on how to deal with her grief, she said. Gadsden
is becoming known across the state as the "Oxy capital," Gartman
said. She believes it is because more doctors in this area are
writing the prescriptions. "Our chief wants everyone to know we are
aggressively fighting this war," she said. "This drug is killing
people and we've got to find a way to stop it." Means hopes that his
proposed legislation will greatly slow down the dispensing of
prescriptions of the drug. "My first question was how are these kids
getting the prescriptions?" Means said. "I hope we can address the
problem by making doctors have more restrictions when writing the
prescriptions. I'm not blaming all doctors, but they should be held
to some sort of accountability." The drug, taken as prescribed for
pain, doesn't appear to be a problem. The problems from OxyContin
come when the drug is abused, either injected or mixed with alcohol.

It is then that users become addicted. "It's not a crime to be
addicted, but it is a crime when you lie, cheat and steal to get it,"
she said. The home of a dying cancer patient was raided in December
and several prescriptions for the drug were found, Gartman said. The
man apparently was taking what he needed for pain, then he was
selling the rest, she said. The drug was originally intended for
cancer patients, but now is being dispensed for all types of pain. It
first was introduced a little more than two years ago. The drug is so
dangerous because it has a time-released coating, intended for the
dose to be gradually released into the system. The pills are water
soluble and are crushed then cooked in water, destroying the coating.

That means those who then inject the drug are getting the intended
12-hour dosage all at once. The drug comes in different milligrams
ranging from 40 to 160 milligrams. A drug addict interviewed in
November for a series of stories about the changing drug trends in
Etowah County said he knows firsthand the high the drug brings.

He said he doesn't shoot up OxyContin now, but has in the last six
months. He said he now is taking the prescribed dosage for his back
pain and he is trying to get off opiate-based pain killers
altogether. However, he said he still gets prescriptions from two or
three doctors, just to make sure he always has what he needs. "This
is the biggest thing to hit the streets in a long time," he said. The
middle-aged drug addict interviewed said he believes he can handle
the drug because he is more aware of its dangers, but he is worried
about the kids who don't know how much they can tolerate. "They're
getting the whole dose at once," he said. "It's a fad and they're not
using it for how it was designed.

They don't know their tolerances and take 160 milligrams at once and
it'll kill you." The high from the drug is what keeps users coming
back for more, he said. In an earlier interview, Becky Clayton,
clinic director of the Gadsden Treatment Center, said OxyContin has
surfaced as a strong culprit of the addiction of most of the patients
they see. "I've not seen anything as bad (as OxyContin)," Clayton
said. "Those who are injecting it are getting addicted after one or
two hits." That addiction appears to be leading to the epidemic
proportions of the use of OxyContin. The pills usually are obtained
by going to a doctor and getting a prescription for some type of
narcotic. "We're talking about legitimate prescriptions for whatever
the ailment may be, but it becomes more than that when you become so
dependent on them," Bishop said. "Then you go to four or six doctors
in a week to obtain prescriptions for the pills you need." The habit
usually gets so bad, the user goes out of town to several doctors, a
practice commonly called "doctor shopping." It is not uncommon for a
person to go to 15 or 20 different doctors in a month, Bishop said.
It's hard to blame the doctors because they have no way of knowing
that the person they write the prescription for is going to other
doctors, Bishop said. Means said that is why he is pushing for some
type of legislation to address what needs to be done. "I know not all
doctors are doing it, probably only a few, but some apparently are
not paying attention to what is happening," Means said. Anyone with
information about the problems with OxyContin can call tip lines at
the Gadsden Police Department narcotics division at 549-4600, Rainbow
City Police Department at 413-1280 or Etowah County Drug and Major
Crime Task Force at 543-2893.