Flooding, Terrorism Cap Region's Biggest Stories

Editor's note: 2001 was filled with many stories of triumph and
happiness, tragedy and sadness. With that in mind, the Daily Telegraph
staff recaps the region's top ten stories of the past year.

8. OXYCONTIN CRISIS

TAZEWELL, Va. - The abuse of the prescription narcotic OxyContin
reached near epidemic levels in Southwest Virginia in 2001, as the
death toll from abuse of the painkiller increased throughout the year.

Tazewell County gained national attention when a man was charged with
the state's first murder case related to an OxyContin overdose, as
regional law enforcement officials intensified their campaign against
the widespread drug addiction in the region.

The abuse of oxycodone, the active ingredient in many painkillers
including OxyContin, became widespread only after OxyContin was
approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1996. Tazewell County
Commonwealth Attorney Dennis Lee declared early in the year that the
abuse of OxyContin had reached epidemic levels in the region, adding
cases related to the painkiller was clogging the local court system.

"We are still seeing it everyday in the courts," Lee said earlier in
the year. "The backlog is tremendous on these cases. The toxicology
work takes forever to get back."

However, the epidemic is changing, according to Lee.

In the past, addicts would go "doctor shopping" in the region, which
is the practice of visiting different doctors for the purpose of
obtaining prescriptions for OxyContin. However, the addicts are now
responsible for a growing number of robberies and breaking and
enterings in the region. In most instances, the only thing stolen
during the pharmacy burglaries is OxyContin.

The crisis gained national attention when a Richlands man pleaded
guilty on July 23 to a charge of felony homicide in connection with a
fatal OxyContin overdose. Robert Maurice Stallard, 43, of 100 Oxford
Square Apartments No. 58 in Richlands, was arrested last year after
being indicted by the county's grand jury on charges that he supplied
the drugs that killed a man and then dumped the man's body. Stallard
was charged with felony homicide, distribution of oxycodone, a
schedule II controlled substance, and disposing of a dead body. The
charges came as a result of the investigation into the death of
Nicholas Keith Dickerson, 40, of No. 66, Oxford Square Apartments.
Stallard entered the guilty plea just minutes before he was scheduled
to stand trial on the charges. He was later sentenced by Tazewell
County Circuit Court Judge Donald Mullins to 13 years and six months
in prison.

Although the epidemic was slowly beginning to moderate by the year's
end, new challenges await law enforcement officials.

In fact, officials are now warning of a possible new wave of drug
abuse in the region. The latest threat is believed to center around
hallucinogenic drugs, including the so-called party drugs like
Ecstasy. The abuse of such hallucinogenic drugs has now been reported
in Northern Virginia, and officials fear such abuse in Southwest
Virginia is next.