DRUG DEATHS NEAR TOP IN STATE

Duval Area No.2 In Methadone Abuse

A state review of autopsies released this week shows the painkiller
methadone present in more Jacksonville-area deaths during 2002 than in any
other region of the state except West Palm Beach.

The 49 methadone deaths detected by autopsies in Jacksonville is second
only to the West Palm Beach district in South Florida, where 53 deaths were
attributed to the painkiller.

Authorities in Jacksonville said the annual Florida Medical Examiners
report compiling drug-related data from autopsies last year reflects what
police are seeing on the street.

Lorri Hall, an organized crime detective specializing in prescription drug
cases for the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, said the past six or seven
months have seen an increase in forged prescriptions for the drug.

"I think it's possibly become a replacement drug for other drugs," she said.

The findings were released in a report that shows prescription drugs
continue to be found more often at lethal levels than illegal drugs. More
than twice as many people are dying with prescription drugs in their system
compared to cocaine, according to the report released by the Florida
Department of Law Enforcement.

Methadone was not the only drug with a significant lethal presence in
Jacksonville, according to the report.

Jacksonville was fourth in the state reporting lethal levels of the
prescription painkiller oxycodone, which includes OxyContin, in autopsied
bodies. Jacksonville was second only to the Fort Lauderdale district in
lethal levels of hydrocodone.

The Jacksonville medical examiner's district covers Duval, Nassau and Clay
counties. Methadone was found at lethal levels in five cases in the
district that covers St. Johns, Flagler and Putnam counties, according to
the report. Methadone was a factor in other deaths, though not the primary
cause.

Statewide, presence of the drug that was once known as a treatment for
heroin addiction was up 56 percent from 2001, when the number of methadone
deaths exceeded the number of heroin deaths in the state for the first
time. From 2000 to 2001, the increase was 71 percent. FDLE officials only
began tracking methadone-related deaths in mid-2000.

Hall pointed to other signs that methadone abuse is rising.

Less than two weeks ago after a man's suspicious request to fill a
methadone prescription was refused, police said he returned to the Normandy
Boulevard pharmacy and robbed them. The man demanded "all your methadone"
in a note that also threatened to harm the clerks if they didn't hand over
the drugs.

"That's the first one we've had where they went in and asked specifically
for methadone, that I know of," Hall said.

In the past, those kinds of robberies commonly involved drugs like
OxyContin, a narcotic painkiller with long-lasting effects, she said.

Hall said the methadone pills sell on the street for $4 or $5 apiece,
significantly cheaper than OxyContin pills that can go for $15 to $25
apiece for low-level doses.

The report shows a 32 percent increase in the presence of hydrocodone and a
10 percent increase in oxycodone. Overall, prescription drugs were found in
lethal levels in 60 percent of the cases while illicit drugs were found in
40 percent.

"Prescription drug abuse is a growing problem in Florida," state Office of
Drug Control Director Jim McDonough said in a statement released with the
report. While progress has been made in reducing the abuse of some illegal
drugs, addicted people are turning to illicit use of prescription drugs, he
said.

"By so doing, a whole new underground market of illicit drug use has spread
and is doing great damage," McDonough said.

Decreases between 2001 and 2002 occurred with some drugs, including a 32
percent drop in the presence of GHB and a 14 percent drop in methylated
amphetamines, a class that includes the drug Ecstasy. Heroin showed a
smaller decline.

The presence of cocaine increased by 18 percent over last year, placing it
at its highest level since it was first tracked in 1987. Cocaine continued
to be the leading cause of death among the drugs specified in the report.

Methadone was third after cocaine and a group of stress and anxiety drugs
called benzodiazepines, the report said. Alcohol is the fourth- leading
cause of death among the drugs specified in the report.

In part, some experts believe the rise in the abuse of methadone is related
to its increased use as a legitimate painkiller.

"In good pain-management practice, we are teaching physicians to use
methadone more than in the past," said Dennis Griffin, director of pharmacy
services for Community Hospice of Northeast Florida, a group that assists
dying patients in areas including pain management.

Griffin said methadone is effective in managing pain in those who may have
developed tolerances for OxyContin and similar drugs. There is a ripple
effect when legitimate drugs become more widely used, he said.

"The people who abuse drugs have more access to it," he said. "The drug-
abuse culture passes information around."

Methadone, which produces euphoria, comes with a set of problems that can
make it dangerous for illicit use. The American Society of Addiction
Medicine says that moderate to high doses of methadone are not tolerated
well in those not accustomed to its use and that methadone stays in a
person's system longer.

"It is trickier to dose," Griffin said. "So it is a more dangerous drug."