STATE OVERDOSE DEATHS INCREASING

TULSA -- Oklahoma's overdose deaths from prescription pain medicine are
increasing as the drugs gain popularity with addicts, officials say.

The state medical examiner reports one person died in 1995 from a lethal
dose of hydrocodone and none died from a deadly dose of oxycodone. Last
year, 27 deaths in the state were directly attributed to the two drugs, and
they were a factor in more than 30 other deaths.

The two medications are sometimes combined with alcohol because it increases
the drugs' strength, Tulsa pharmacist Ralph Gum said.

"There's always a crossover line -- a point at which your body says, 'Forget
it,'" Gum said.

Joe Gho, a Tulsa police officer assigned to investigate fraudulent drug
prescriptions, said five people suspected of abusing painkillers have died
before he could arrest them.

"They overdose and die because they can't stop," he said.

Gho said the problem may get worse as more addicts favor a more potent
painkiller called OxyContin that has a kinship to heroin.

The drug comes in a time-released capsule to spread its effects. George
Brenner, chairman of the department of pharmacology and physiology at the
Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine, said some abusers
may crush the capsule for a quicker rush. Brenner said a single such dosage
could be fatal.

Drugs such as OxyContin are not cheap. Pharmacy patients with legitimate
prescriptions pay as much as $4 per pill. Addicts then sell them at $25 to
$40 per pill to pay for their habit.

"I cared more about getting those 90 pills than I cared about feeding my
son," said one woman who was in Gho's office as he prepared charges against
her.