OXY-HIGH

PAIN RELIEF is a good thing. For those suffering from cancer or other
excruciating conditions, the comfort derived from properly prescribed
medication can transform a hellish existence into one that is at least
bearable. Unfortunately, the same little pill that offers bright hope
also can have a dark side. OxyContin, a prescription pain reliever, is
an example.

After its introduction in 1996 by Purdue Pharma, OxyContin took off.
Racking up over $1.5 billion in sales in 2001, the drug soared past
Viagra, becoming the 18th most-prescribed drug on the market. With few
side effects and a 12-hour release formulation, OxyContin helped many
suffering individuals.

But it was not long before some discovered that if the pill were
chewed, crushed, snorted, or injected, a heroinlike high would result.
An illegal demand for the drug emerged, especially in the eastern
United States. Our area, alas, has not been exempt. The recent arrest
of a Falmouth Volunteer Fire Department officer for allegedly selling
the drug illegally sounds the alarm.

The latest incident is one in a recent string of OxyContin-related
crimes around the state. Someone robbed the King George Pharmacy for
the pills in March. Doctors in McLean and Centreville have been under
investigation for overprescribing it. And last November, The Plains
Pharmacy in Fauquier County was closed for five hours while Drug
Enforcement Administration officers searched for evidence. Later, the
police broke up an 18-member OxyContin ring that stretched from
Virginia to Tennessee (including a mother-son team who pleaded guilty
to conspiring to rob the pharmacy).

U.S. Attorney Paul McNulty of the Eastern District of Virginia told
the Fauquier Times-Democrat, "OxyContin is a growing problem in the
nation and this district. It is the fastest-growing prescribed
narcotic and, at the same time, it is associated with abuse, overdose,
violent crime, robbery, and pharmacy theft."

Distributors obtain OxyContin illegally via forged prescriptions,
doctor-shopping, and theft and from patients selling leftover pills.
Users quickly become addicted. Most alarmingly, teens sometimes
combine it with alcohol or other drugs in a deadly mix.

Legislators are working on ways to track prescriptions for OxyContin.
The manufacturer is trying to develop an abuse-proof form of the drug.
Meanwhile, parents, teachers, patients, and medical professionals must
be vigilant. The miracle painkiller can turn ugly when illegitimately
used.