'HILLBILLY HEROIN' SPURS ABUSE - & CRIME WAVE

Addictive: Pain reliever OxyContin is a synthetic version of morphine.

Since the painkiller OxyContin hit the market in 1996, the potent pill has
triggered a wave of illicit use that has destroyed thousands of lives and
put law enforcement on high alert. Talk-radio bigwig Rush Limbaugh's
alleged abuse of OxyContin has again put the spotlight on the drug.

But this synthetic version of morphine is by no means sought after only by
the rich and famous. In Appalachian states, where its use is rampant, it's
known as "hillbilly heroin."

If users defeat the time-release feature of the pill by crushing or
dissolving it, they get an instant high.

Law enforcement officials and drug rehab doctors who confront the fallout
of prescription opiates daily say the nickname belies a deadly serious problem.

"It's a bigger problem than the illicit drug trade," said Charlie Cichon,
president of the National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators,
which monitors the illegal trafficking and use of prescription drugs.

"There are pockets throughout the United States where you'll see more
OxyContin abuse than methadone," he said.

Federal authorities monitor emergency room visits caused by narcotic pain
relievers, of which OxyContin is the most potent. In 1995, before OxyContin
hit the market, 45,254 emergency room visits were linked to the abuse of
narcotic painkillers. In 2002, that number hit 119,185 - a 163% increase,
according to the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration.

Surge In Deaths

And from 1996 to 1999, deaths linked to the abuse of oxycodone - the active
narcotic in OxyContin - jumped to 268 from 51, according to the federal
Drug Enforcement Administration.

The demand for OxyContin also has sparked its own crime wave.

Armed robberies and night pharmacy break-ins specifically for OxyContin
more than doubled nationwide between 2000 and 2002, with 479 cases reported
last year, Drug Enforcement Administration spokeswoman Rogene Waite said.

OxyContin abuse first caught the attention of law enforcement in rural
Maine, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia. But the problem has spread to
Louisiana, southwest Pennsylvania, Ohio and Arizona, according to the DEA.

The reason the drug became popular in rural communities is because it can
often be obtained through legal means and "there's less opportunity to
encounter someone on the street selling cocaine and heroin than inner
cities," Cichon said.

Several doctors have been charged with or prosecuted for writing bogus
OxyContin prescriptions. The most recent case involved a Virginia
physician, William Hurwitz, who was nabbed in a federal sting called
Operation Cotton Candy and charged with 45 counts of drug trafficking that
authorities say resulted in the deaths of three people.

OxyContin abusers also have turned up more frequently in treatment centers,
including those that offer the controversial "rapid detox" that Limbaugh
allegedly used to kick the habit.

Unlike conventional detox, where patients are switched to methadone and
slowly weaned from the drug over three to 10 days, rapid detox involves
heavily sedating the patient, said Dr. Brian Sands, director of the
chemical dependency service at Woodhull Hospital in Brooklyn.

"It's become quite a cottage industry," he said.