SAVANNAH ARREST SHOWS PROBLEM OF PRESCRIPTION PILL ABUSE

OxyContin and other prescription drugs are choice of growing number of
drug abusers

A tip via the Internet to an anti-drug group has helped authorities crack
one of the largest prescription drug abuse cases in Savannah.

Kathy W. Johnson, 41, of Savannah is suspected of illegally obtaining
thousands of prescription painkillers and muscle relaxers. A brochure at a
pharmacy in Savannah -- asking people to report prescription drug abuse --
generated the tip that led authorities to Johnson.

It's the first arrest in Georgia resulting from a tip to a group called
DAMMADD -- Dads and Mad Moms Against Drug Dealers.

The New York-based group accepts anonymous tips over the Internet to help
law enforcement crack down on drug abuse -- especially of the powerful
painkiller OxyContin, the most frequently prescribed narcotic nationwide.

Popping illegally obtained prescription pills has become the "silent
killer," said Cmdr. Eddie Williams of Chatham-Savannah Counter Narcotics
Team (CNT), the agency that arrested Johnson. The person who gave DAMMADD
the tip on Johnson also contacted CNT.

Williams said the problem is growing in Savannah.

"Kids today believe: It's a prescription drug, it's going to be safe," said
Steven Steiner, founder of DAMMADD.

Johnson, arrested July 31, is being held in Chatham County jail on 54 counts
of "double doctoring"--or obtaining controlled substances by
misrepresentation.

Johnson is accused of going to at least five doctors in the past year
complaining of ailments -- and having prescriptions filled at about five
pharmacies in the Savannah area, CNT agents said. Johnson allegedly obtained
5,365 pills in a year including OxyContin, Soma muscle relaxers and Xanax
anti-depressants.

Two of the drugs Johnson obtained -- OxyContin and Xanax -- are the same
ones that killed Steiner's son in January 2001 at a party in Palm Beach
Gardens, Fla.

Steiner, a 42-year-old former electrician, started the anti-drug group after
his 19-year-old accidentally overdosed on OxyContin and small amounts of
Xanax and Ecstasy .

Drug agents don't know whether Johnson was selling or using the drugs, or
both. Agents said the street profit for OxyContin is large.

One 80 mg pill that costs $1 to $1.75 from a pharmacy sells for $25 a pill
on the street, said CNT Agent Aaron Gonzalez, who focuses on prescription
drug abuse.

"OxyContin is a wonder drug for people in pain, " Steiner said.

"But it's a dangerous drug when taken by the people who are not using it the
way it's supposed to be used."

The painkiller is the choice of a growing number of drug abusers who crush
the tablets and snort the powder, or mix it with water and inject it, said
CNT Sgt. Nancy Jones.

Purdue Pharma, the Connecticut-based maker of OxyContin, gave Steiner
$100,000 in grants to help develop DAMMADD.

The company distributed about 65,000 tent cards with tear-off sheets to
pharmacies nationwide, including the one that generated the tip on Johnson
in Savannah. The cards offer rewards and tell people to call DAMMADD or log
onto the group's Web site with tips on anyone involved in prescription drug
diversion.

Steiner checks out the tips and forwards ones he deems legitimate to the
appropriate police agency.

"Law enforcement is not kicking down doors based on our information,"
Steiner said. "The majority of these people are coming up on the radar
screen anyway."