AN OXYCONTIN HELL

Painkiller A Poison More Dreadful Than Death, Says Dying Woman

GLACE BAY - Terminally ill cancer patient Tanya Grant says she'd rather die
than ever take another OxyContin to kill her pain.

And the former paramedic advised others in an interview Friday never to
take the medication unless death is near or they are willing to risk
becoming addicted or a target of crime.

"Withdrawal from OxyContin is worse than cancer, it was worse than
aggressive chemo for six months, worse than losing my hair twice. It was
the worst thing I've ever had to go through in my life, and I never want to
go through it again. That's why I would never touch it again," the
42-year-old mother of one said Friday.

Diagnosed in 1990s with carnoid cancer - a rare fatal disease that first
attacks the liver, then bowel, lungs and brain of people usually over 60 -
Ms. Grant was prescribed the new so-called miracle drug in 2000 to combat
chronic severe pain.

She had several operations to remove tumors, and most of her liver. She has
another spot on her liver today and a life expectancy of 50.

According to Purdue Pharma, the drug's manufacturer, two OxyContin per day
are all that's needed for effective pain relief because the opium-based
active ingredient oxycodone is released gradually over 12 hours.

According to prescription records that Ms. Grant showed this newspaper
Friday, in 2002 she was sold 380 pills per month, for several months - half
in the strongest dose available in Canada, 80 milligrams.

Ms. Grant who now volunteers for St. John Ambulance blames her doctor for
turning her into a drug addict back then.

"I begged her to wean me off the Oxys," she said, adding she finally gave
up and signed herself into the local detox.

"Coming off it was that hard, it took me over a year," she said.

She said the drug made her high and incoherent and she felt as if she were
in a fog. She has few memories of the times while on OxyContin, that she
couldn't form thoughts and couldn't walk, let alone do much else. She had
had to stop working in 2000 during treatment.

"It's like you're floating. You have no idea of what's going on in the
world," she said. "You have no care in the world. All you have to do is
take one pill. . . . All your pain goes away, your whole body just feels
like it's floating. That's why people take them."

While in detox, she was prescribed methadone, another strong narcotic used
to help heroin or cocaine addicts. Going through withdrawal was a
nightmare, she said.

"It was horrible. You get cramps in your legs, feet, toes, head. It's
unbelievable . . . strong charlie-horse cramps," she said. "The constant
diarrhea, the throwing up . . . anxiety . . . shakes. . . . There are a lot
of side-effects. It almost killed me.

"I was on such a high dose. It starts shutting down your organs. It's a
crazy drug."

On Friday, this newspaper reported on the six-month jail sentence given to
her ex-boyfriend after he attacked her on Boxing Day with a screwdriver.
That assault came just five days after a cancerous tumor was removed from
her bowel.

The prosecution said Ronald Turner, a drug addict, was fighting with Ms.
Grant to get OxyContin, but Ms. Grant said it was another powerful
painkiller, Demerol.

"I've been off OxyContin for a long time," she said, although she admits
she still craves it. "OxyContin is poison. It shouldn't be on the market,
and when I hear of kids sniffing it or chewing it, my God, it breaks my
heart. . . . Look at the people who are dying from it."

Cape Breton Regional Police have confirmed one of the 17 sudden deaths in
the area last year was caused by OxyContin abuse. The force is awaiting
other toxicology reports, but says the other deaths are linked to
prescription drug use.

Glace Bay has become known as Cottonland due to the availability of
OxyContin on the streets. One pill can sell for up to $80.

Two weeks ago, Ms. Grant's home was broken into, and the only thing stolen
was her medication. She's not the only victim of crime involving
prescription drugs. Other cancer patients have been robbed of drugs and
there's been a rash of armed robberies, attempted murders, break-ins and
petty crime linked to prescription drug abuse.

A local task force of doctors, pharmacists, police and provincial officials
are trying to find a way to combat the problem.

One out of every 200 Cape Bretoners was prescribed OxyContin in 2002 -
three times the rate elsewhere in Nova Scotia and at higher doses.

The Health Department does not know how much ended up on the street in 2003
but believes the amount increased. Officials don't know why more doctors
prescribe it in Cape Breton than elsewhere but suggest it's due to the
area's higher rates of cancer and other diseases.

The College of Physicians and Surgeons last week issued a letter to all
doctors in the province warning them to be careful when prescribing the
powerful drug.

Purdue Pharma is now facing lawsuits in the U.S. alleging it understated
the addictive nature of the drug.