OPIATE HABIT EASY TO GET BY PRESCRIPTION

Heroin and the abuse of OxyContin is a very serious issue in Malden
and the surrounding communities. Recognizing this fact and seeing
young people die from drug overdoses, Malden city officials have put
together a group to work on this problem. Locally, city leaders,
school personnel, police officials, Hallmark Health, and many families
are seeing first hand the devastating effects of this particular drug
issue.

OxyContin is a drug that is made by pharmaceutical company, Purdue
Pharma, and is not made on the streets or in home chemistry labs. It
should be given to people with long-term pain such as cancer, severe
back pain or broken bones, teeth problems or other short term pain
issues.

OxyContin addiction and abuse, most always, leads to heroin use. They
are both opiates. Made from opium plants that come from countries such
as Afganastan, India, Iran, Iraq, etc.

OxyContin costs about $1 per milligram. A very common dose prescribed
by doctors is an 80 milligram pill that is time-released in the body
and will last up to 12 hours. Many times a prescription for a month is
given to a person in pain. The street value of one 80 milligram pill
is $80. If a prescription of 30 pills is given the street value is
$2,400.

A small bag of heroin costs about $5.

The common misuse of OxyContin is to crush the pill that will then get
rid of the time-release effect. In other words, the full effect will
be felt immediately, all 80 milligrams at once.

When people are addicted to OxyContin, misuse it or is illegally take
it, they will find it very difficult to keep up with the cost. They
will rob, steal and sometimes hurt others to get money to feed the
habit.

The downward devastating spiral effect can go like this: They lose
their job or stops going to school because they are too focused on how
and where to get their next pill and cannot focus on anything else.
They will have no money, so they rob from everyone they know. Then
they will rob from others. They will eventually get caught by the
police and start a process with court, fees, attorneys, probation,
drug tests and it goes on and on.

Eventually, they will reach the step of asking for treatment. They are
sick of living that life. They will enter facilities for detox,
treatment facilities, shelters, halfway houses or sober houses. They
may or may not have insurance. Family members may have to support
treatment or the person may have found state-funded facilities. They
may relapse many times before they are jailed, dies or joins a 12-step
program and lives with the knowledge they are an addict for the rest
of their lives.

This is a very sad story of many families in Malden and the
surrounding communities. The city of Malden is trying to arrest the
problem, educate children, get dealers off our streets, make citizens
aware of the dangers of opiate addiction and finding treatment for our
young addicted citizens.

The Malden task force, Malden ROCKS, is working on all these issues.
They are also working on educating doctors and pharmacists. Support
groups are available for families and addicts.

Families Anonymous is a group that meets once every week on Tuesday
nights from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Buddy Coholan Center, 121 Washington
St., Medford. The group consists of family members who have been down
this devastating road of addiction with a loved one.