OXYCONTIN NOW A MAJOR CONCERN AT THE LOCAL LEVEL

In a little over a week, the McMinn County Sheriff's Department has made
several arrests, uncovered a suspected chop shop operation, and seized
hundreds of pills in an ongoing investigation into prescription drug -
particularly OxyContin - trafficking in McMinn County.

Sheriff Steve Frisbie and Detective B.J. Johnson say the problem is
widespread and the drug is very dangerous.

OxyContin is a prescription-only painkiller for people under a doctor's
care who are suffering from severe pain, according to the U.S. Food & Drug
Administration.

OxyContin is opium-based, containing oxycodone, and has an addiction
potential similar to that of morphine, according to the FDA.

But addiction is not the worst fear of local law enforcement.

"My biggest fear is that young people, who don't know anything about it,
are going to be taking it to get high," Johnson said. "OxyContin is one of
the most dangerous drugs on the market."

The danger lies in the nature of the way the OxyContin pill works.

The pill's ingredients are much the same as other oxycodone containing pain
medications except that OxyContin is a time-released drug. The pill itself
is many times the strength of pain pills that have been available over the
years because it is meant to administer the medication steadily, over a
period of hours.

Local pharmacist Becky Wallace, D.Ph., with Riddle & Wallace Drug Store,
said the drug was intended as a medical answer for people with painful
maladies who before had few medications to which they could turn.

"It was meant to be a wonderful drug," Wallace said. "It was meant for
cancer patients and people who've had surgery - people with chronic pain."
The problem arose when drug users found the drug was so powerful. "It's
being abused by people who are looking for the buzz," she said. "That just
doesn't make sense to me."

An FDA warning gets straight to the point.

"OxyContin tablets are a controlled-release oral formulation of oxycodone
hydrochloride indicated for the management of moderate to severe pain when
a continuous, around-the-clock analgesic is needed for an extended period
of time. OxyContin tablets are not intended for use as a prn (as-needed)
analgesic," the warning states.

"OxyContin 80 mg and 160 mg Tablets are for use in opioid-tolerant patients
only. These tablet strengths may cause fatal respiratory depression when
administered to patients not previously exposed to opioids."

The Sheriff's Department's continuing investigation is targeting those who
are selling their prescription drugs to others, according to Frisbie and
Johnson.

"One case we worked, the guy sold me a whole prescription in the parking
lot of (a local department store)," Johnson said. "These people who're
selling their prescriptions, they need to know their doctor will find out,
and then they'll lose their TennCare (Johnson says most people arrested for
selling their prescriptions are on TennCare) and they'll lose their
prescriptions. They probably need their prescriptions if they're in pain."

Johnson said the investigation began with a number of complaints from local
residents to the Sheriff's Department.

Johnson said the abusers aren't always the suppliers. He said the person
selling the drug is often just trying to make money and uses the drug for
pain as it's prescribed.

The demand for the drug is what drives the market for it, he said.

"I feel like most of the people who abuse OxyContin don't understand the
danger they're putting themselves in," Johnson said.

"It's a powerful time-release drug," he said. "I've seen people dead of an
overdose with the needle still stuck in their arm."

Johnson said injecting a crushed and diluted time-release pill is far more
dangerous than other kinds of medications.

"The ones who are shooting it up, they're bypassing the time-release part
of it and it's hitting them all at once," he said.

According to Johnson, other abusers are simply taking the drug a pill at a
time, but then forget when they had the last pill and take another one. The
time-release dosage becomes lethal quickly, he said.

Others crush the pills, again bypassing the time-release administration of
the medication, and subject themselves to a much-larger-than-normal dose.

The FDA warning on the drug states "OxyContin (oxycodone hydrochloride
controlled-release) tablets are to be swallowed whole and are not to be
broken, chewed, or crushed. Taking broken, chewed or crushed OxyContin
tablets leads to a rapid release and absorption of a potentially fatal dose
of oxycodone."

The "customers" of those selling their prescribed OxyContin are not
receiving the medical warnings the pharmacist includes with the medicine.
People dealing the drug don't provide drug warnings, he said. Johnson said
there are other factors to consider for those who are selling their
prescriptions.

"If a person dies of narcotics that we can trace back to them, they can
face a far more serious charge of criminally negligent homicide," Johnson said.

After someone is charged with selling prescribed drugs, their doctor will
be notified and informed about the reasons for their patient's arrest,
Johnson said.

Johnson even warned abusers to educate themselves about how the drugs works
so they won't find themselves overdosing through ignorance.

"People who are taking prescribed OxyContin should make sure everyone in
the family knows about the dangers associated with it," said Johnson, "and
keep it locked up."

Frisbie said the OxyContin and prescription drug trade in McMinn County is
on the rise.

"We're seeing it more and more," Frisbie said. "People are selling their
prescriptions to the users. OxyContin is one of the main drugs they like to
purchase. The fact that it's so dangerous is why we're focusing on it."

Frisbie and Johnson urged anyone with information about prescription drugs
being sold or abused to call the Sheriff's Department at 745-5622 or
745-5620. Johnson said anyone can contact him directly by dialing his pager
at 589-0425. . E-mail: bbenton@xtn.net