cannabisnews.com: Illegal Sale, Use Of a Painkiller Alarms Officials





Illegal Sale, Use Of a Painkiller Alarms Officials
Posted by FoM on March 14, 2001 at 08:49:27 PT
By Josh White, Washington Post Staff Writer 
Source: Washington Post 
Virginia officials are considering creating a database to monitor the distribution of the prescription painkiller OxyContin amid new police warnings that Northern Virginia is becoming a clearinghouse for the illegal sale of the narcotic.Virginia State Police said this week that investigators have seen an influx of OxyContin addicts in the northern and eastern parts of Virginia, many of whom are ducking crackdowns in neighboring states such as Kentucky, where prescriptions are closely monitored.
Several jurisdictions in Northern Virginia have reported a sharp rise in the illegal sale and abuse of the drug since the beginning of the year, and officials in southwest Virginia have said that abuse of the drug has reached epidemic proportions in the last 18 months."There's no question that there's a major problem and we need to address it," said Lucy Caldwell, Virginia State Police spokeswoman. "In addition to abuse, we are seeing an increase in OxyContin addicts coming to these areas, purchasing the stuff and leaving."State officials think the drug, which is a synthetic form of morphine and is used to treat pain in terminal cancer patients and others, is responsible for 30 to 50 deaths and countless overdoses in the last 18 months. The state medical examiner's office has been directed to create an official list of deaths linked to the drug.Authorities say most of the pills on the street flow from physicians' offices after abusers and dealers fake ailments or prescriptions. Others steal directly from pharmacies. State police said investigators are working closely with federal and local authorities to target the sources of illegal sales.In Prince William and Fauquier counties, law enforcement officials say OxyContin is gaining popularity among drug users and is poised to overtake cocaine and heroin in availability and sales. There have been several arrests throughout Northern Virginia in the last few months related to illegal possession of the drug and for thefts that involved thousands of dollars worth of the pills.Over the last month, state police have been investigating the theft of more than $12,000 worth of OxyContin from a Fairfax County pharmacy. Also, a Manassas man was arrested three weeks ago after allegedly stealing 90 bottles of the painkiller from The Plains Pharmacy in Fauquier."From what we're hearing, OxyContin will probably take over crack if it continues to be available on the street," said Prince William Commonwealth's Attorney Paul B. Ebert (D). "It's becoming more and more available, and we are learning that junkies prefer it to cocaine and heroin."Virginia Attorney General Mark L. Earley (R) has said he is interested in studying a database that would track legitimate prescriptions across the state. At a meeting with Earley on March 1, Purdue Pharma L.P., OxyContin's manufacturer, pledged $100,000 to fund the study and vowed to help with education efforts for medical professionals and abusers."The attorney general has had very productive talks with the manufacturer and has gotten assurances they will do everything in their power to keep this drug in legitimate patients' hands," said David Botkins, a spokesman for Earley's office.A significant part of Earley's effort to keep OxyContin in the hands of those who truly need it centers on education. His office announced this week that a presentation tailored to middle and high school students about the dangers of the drug should be ready by April 1.State police said that children as young as 10 are using the drug -- a boy was caught recently snorting a crushed pill -- and that many teenagers are found with pill-crushers that allow them to break open the time-release OxyContin tablets for a quick and powerful high."It's not too early to introduce seventh- and eighth-graders to this type of information because police are seeing increasingly young people, even young teenagers, carrying personal pill crushers in southwest Virginia," Caldwell said. "We need to attack the problem."Caldwell said state police officials have added an agent to the department's criminal investigations bureau specifically to deal with health-care related crimes, largely in response to OxyContin abuse. Earley has also announced the creation of state and national task forces -- which he will chair -- focusing on stopping abuse.Purdue Pharma, which has cited the benefits of OxyContin to chronic pain sufferers while consistently offering assistance to local law enforcement agencies on preventing abuse, plans to pay for production and distribution of tamper-resistant prescription pads to physicians in areas hardest hit by abuse.Complete Title: Illegal Sale, Use Of a Painkiller Alarms Officials; State Proposes Database To Monitor OxyContin Source: Washington Post (DC) Author: Josh White, Washington Post Staff Writer Published: March 14, 2001Copyright: 2001 The Washington Post Company Address: 1150 15th Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20071 Contact: letters washpost.com Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ Feedback: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm Related Articles:Va. Police Fear Rise Of New Drug http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8626.shtmlUse of Painkiller Grows Quickly, Along With Abuse http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8887.shtml
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