OXYCONTIN RAGE 'SEEMS TO HAVE TAKEN OVER'

Wave Of Pharmacy Robberies Concerns Police, Pharmacists

The prescription painkiller that made national news this year as the
country's fastest-spreading illicitly used narcotic has recently
emerged as Concord's drug of choice, the police said.

OxyContin, a powerful drug that produces a heroin-like high, was the
target of two pharmacy robberies here this month and the apparent
goal of recent holdups throughout central and southern New Hampshire,
the police said.

"This drug seems to have taken over," said Concord Police Detective
Todd Flanagan, who is investigating Concord's robberies.

The situation has challenged investigators, who have less experience
fighting legal drugs than they do combating illegal narcotics. It has
also tested area pharmacists, who say they fear future Oxy-related
crime and violence.

"I don't want to reduce the service to my customers, but there is a
safety issue for myself and my staff," said one local pharmacist, who
did not want to be named for fear of becoming a target. "I've been in
pharmacy 25 years. I've never seen anything like this before."

OxyContin entered the market in 1995 as a painkiller able to provide
up to 12 hours of relief. Since then, it has been widely prescribed
for cancer patients, those with long-lasting back soreness and others
with chronic pain. Developed with a time-release formula, one strong
OxyContin tablet releases multiple pain-relief doses, eliminating the
need to take numerous pain pills during the course of a day.

If the tablet is crushed, though, or is dissolved in water and
injected, those time-release functions are disabled, and the entire
strength of the pill is felt at once. The high is similar to heroin,
drug experts say, except more potent and possibly more addictive.

"I've spoken to informants who have taken all sorts of drugs over the
course of their lives," Flanagan said. "And they're saying this stuff
is unreal."

Over the past two years, OxyContin use has exploded throughout the
eastern United States, the federal Drug Enforcement Agency reports.
In Kentucky and West Virginia, the drug's popularity earned it the
title "hillbilly heroin." Last year, Maine reported OxyContin as the
state's top narcotic threat. And in Massachusetts, officials have
reported an explosion in the drug's illegal use.

"It's just devastated the Portland area," said Sgt. Mike Hambrook,
the assistant unit commander of narcotics investigations for the New
Hampshire State Police. "And (OxyContin) robberies in Massachusetts
are a daily occurrence."

But it is only in the past months that the drug has surfaced - at
least publicly - in Concord.

"This is the new kid on the block, certainly," Concord Police Chief
Jerry Madden said.

Some investigators and pharmacists speculate that illicit OxyContin
did not just arrive in the Concord area, but that addicts have, until
recently, been able to secure the drug through forged and duplicate
prescriptions, which would make drug possession appear legal. Kathy
Descheneaux, the chief forensic investigator at the state's Medical
Examiner's office, said she has not noticed a significant spike in
deaths involving oxycodone, OxyContin's active ingredient.

"The fact that people are taking it by force or robbery is new to
central New Hampshire," said Tom Wilmot, the manager at Capital
Pharmacy. "I don't think there's been any increase in illegal
prescriptions."

Because area pharmacists have become more careful about OxyContin
distribution, it has been harder to get the drugs, the police
speculated. Which could be one explanation for the spate of
robberies, they said.

OxyContin addicts are desperate, and will put themselves and others
in danger to get the drugs, the police said. The high retail value of
OxyContin tablets - a bottle can sell for $2,000 - can also prompt
illegal activity.

In other states, some pharmacists have refused to carry the drug,
placing signs in pharmacy windows announcing as much to potential
robbers. Many area pharmacists said they were loath to stop providing
OxyContin entirely since it is such an effective drug for those who
legitimately need it, but said they couldn't help but think about the
risks to their own safety. An official at the New Hampshire Board of
Pharmacy said the group was working on an OxyContin policy but would
not give further details.

"This is the newest drug of choice," Madden said. "I don't know how
widespread it is, but it's obviously an issue for people right now.
And they're not street drugs. They're in pharmacies."