EXPERTS SAY HEROIN SUBSTITUTE COULD BECOME PROBLEM IN TEXAS

A powerful prescription painkiller being abused on the East Coast as a
heroin substitute could become a problem in Texas, pharmaceutical drug
investigators warned Monday.

OxyContin, also known as "hillbilly heroin," has flooded the Eastern
United States from Maine to Virginia in recent months, killing addicts
and causing sharp increases in crime related to the drug, officials
said.

But few to no reports of OxyContin, which is legitimately used by
cancer patients and chronic pain sufferers, have surfaced in recent
weeks in Texas, officials said.

"In six of the last seven states we've been in, they have reported
problems with it," said Charles F. Cichon, president of the National
Association of Drug Diversion Investigators. "I believe it's just a
matter of time before you see it in Texas."

Cichon's comments came on the first day of a statewide pharmaceutical
drug diversion training conference at Harris Methodist Fort Worth hospital.