Why it's so hard to win the war against US oxycodone epidemic

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http://j.mp/kyszSU

Why it's so hard to win the war against US oxycodone epidemic

Oxycodone dispensers are protected. Abusers are hard to ID. And the drug claims

more lives than cocaine, heroin, meth.



Cherokee County narcotics chief Phil Price launched a fight against a ‘pill

mill’ in his Georgia county.

Patrik Jonsson/The Christian Science Monitor

By Patrik Jonsson, Staff writer / June 1, 2011

Woodstock, Ga.

In the " war on drugs, " Phil Price has battled crack, methamphetamine, heroin,

and pot. But the newest drug epidemic – abuse of prescription opioid

painkillers – has the narcotics agent reassessing his role in policing

America's hunger for illicit highs.

As head of the narcotics squad in Cherokee County in Georgia, Mr. Price has

ordered his 14 agents to shift focus from meth labs and Mexican drug gangs to

eyeing vans full of average Joes in search of prescriptions for a legal, but

habit-forming and potentially deadly, fix: oxycodone. A pharmaceutical form of

heroin, the drug is now a top seller, with 100 million prescriptions written

over the past 15 years – the equivalent of 1 bottle of pills for every 3

Americans.

But fighting oxycodone abuse – an epidemic that now results in millions of

overdoses and at least 11,000 deaths annually – has unique and vexing

challenges.

IN PICTURES: Mexico's drug war

For one, the drug is not illegal. But there are right ways and wrong ways to

dispense it, though regulations vary from state to state. Large-scale

dispensers, whom Price calls " drug dealers with MDs, " are protected, to a point,

by federal law and by powerful medical and pharmaceutical lobbies. For another,

it's increasingly difficult to identify abusers. They range from retirees to

high school girls, and many attempt to " doctor shop " to find a fix.

" It's far more complex than any other drug epidemic I've seen, " says Price.

" What it all boils down to is a societal issue, not a law enforcement issue. I

don't know how we can keep everybody from doing harm to themselves. "

Abuse of oxycodone is not new. The introduction 15 years ago of " miracle " drugs

like OxyContin was hailed as a leap forward in the field of pain management for

patients, but early on oxycodone's addictive properties became clear. Since

then, not only have patients developed addictions, but recreational drug users

are increasingly seeking out oxycodone, crushing the pills to negate

time-release formulas and even vaporizing pills, a method called " chasing the

dragon. "

As demand grew, unscrupulous doctors set up shop in strip malls and began

offering large prescriptions dispensed for cash. These " pill mills " popped up by

the hundreds, especially in south Florida. The result is an " Oxy Express, " a

steady flow of users who became black market dealers, selling part of the stash

in their distant hometowns to finance their addictions.

More at link.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT & T

[Guest guest]

Note that the most recent information from Pfizer (5/11) has an immediate

release oxycodone in the works. Stay tuned for part 2 of the oxycodone

epidemic.

>

> http://j.mp/kyszSU

>

> Why it's so hard to win the war against US oxycodone epidemic

>

> Oxycodone dispensers are protected. Abusers are hard to ID. And the drug

claims more lives than cocaine, heroin, meth.

>

> 

>

> Cherokee County narcotics chief Phil Price launched a fight against a ‘pill

mill’ in his Georgia county.

>

> Patrik Jonsson/The Christian Science Monitor

>

> By Patrik Jonsson, Staff writer / June 1, 2011

>

> Woodstock, Ga.

>

> In the " war on drugs, " Phil Price has battled crack, methamphetamine, heroin,

and pot. But the newest drug epidemic †" abuse of prescription opioid

painkillers †" has the narcotics agent reassessing his role in policing

America's hunger for illicit highs.

>

> As head of the narcotics squad in Cherokee County in Georgia, Mr. Price has

ordered his 14 agents to shift focus from meth labs and Mexican drug gangs to

eyeing vans full of average Joes in search of prescriptions for a legal, but

habit-forming and potentially deadly, fix: oxycodone. A pharmaceutical form of

heroin, the drug is now a top seller, with 100 million prescriptions written

over the past 15 years †" the equivalent of 1 bottle of pills for every 3

Americans.

>

> But fighting oxycodone abuse †" an epidemic that now results in millions of

overdoses and at least 11,000 deaths annually †" has unique and vexing

challenges.

>

> IN PICTURES: Mexico's drug war

>

> For one, the drug is not illegal. But there are right ways and wrong ways to

dispense it, though regulations vary from state to state. Large-scale

dispensers, whom Price calls " drug dealers with MDs, " are protected, to a point,

by federal law and by powerful medical and pharmaceutical lobbies. For another,

it's increasingly difficult to identify abusers. They range from retirees to

high school girls, and many attempt to " doctor shop " to find a fix.

>

> " It's far more complex than any other drug epidemic I've seen, " says Price.

" What it all boils down to is a societal issue, not a law enforcement issue. I

don't know how we can keep everybody from doing harm to themselves. "

>

> Abuse of oxycodone is not new. The introduction 15 years ago of " miracle "

drugs like OxyContin was hailed as a leap forward in the field of pain

management for patients, but early on oxycodone's addictive properties became

clear. Since then, not only have patients developed addictions, but recreational

drug users are increasingly seeking out oxycodone, crushing the pills to negate

time-release formulas and even vaporizing pills, a method called " chasing the

dragon. "

>

> As demand grew, unscrupulous doctors set up shop in strip malls and began

offering large prescriptions dispensed for cash. These " pill mills " popped up by

the hundreds, especially in south Florida. The result is an " Oxy Express, " a

steady flow of users who became black market dealers, selling part of the stash

in their distant hometowns to finance their addictions.

>

> More at link.

> Sent via BlackBerry by AT & T

>

[Guest guest]

Note that the most recent information from Pfizer (5/11) has an immediate

release oxycodone in the works. Stay tuned for part 2 of the oxycodone

epidemic.

>

> http://j.mp/kyszSU

>

> Why it's so hard to win the war against US oxycodone epidemic

>

> Oxycodone dispensers are protected. Abusers are hard to ID. And the drug

claims more lives than cocaine, heroin, meth.

>

> 

>

> Cherokee County narcotics chief Phil Price launched a fight against a ‘pill

mill’ in his Georgia county.

>

> Patrik Jonsson/The Christian Science Monitor

>

> By Patrik Jonsson, Staff writer / June 1, 2011

>

> Woodstock, Ga.

>

> In the " war on drugs, " Phil Price has battled crack, methamphetamine, heroin,

and pot. But the newest drug epidemic †" abuse of prescription opioid

painkillers †" has the narcotics agent reassessing his role in policing

America's hunger for illicit highs.

>

> As head of the narcotics squad in Cherokee County in Georgia, Mr. Price has

ordered his 14 agents to shift focus from meth labs and Mexican drug gangs to

eyeing vans full of average Joes in search of prescriptions for a legal, but

habit-forming and potentially deadly, fix: oxycodone. A pharmaceutical form of

heroin, the drug is now a top seller, with 100 million prescriptions written

over the past 15 years †" the equivalent of 1 bottle of pills for every 3

Americans.

>

> But fighting oxycodone abuse †" an epidemic that now results in millions of

overdoses and at least 11,000 deaths annually †" has unique and vexing

challenges.

>

> IN PICTURES: Mexico's drug war

>

> For one, the drug is not illegal. But there are right ways and wrong ways to

dispense it, though regulations vary from state to state. Large-scale

dispensers, whom Price calls " drug dealers with MDs, " are protected, to a point,

by federal law and by powerful medical and pharmaceutical lobbies. For another,

it's increasingly difficult to identify abusers. They range from retirees to

high school girls, and many attempt to " doctor shop " to find a fix.

>

> " It's far more complex than any other drug epidemic I've seen, " says Price.

" What it all boils down to is a societal issue, not a law enforcement issue. I

don't know how we can keep everybody from doing harm to themselves. "

>

> Abuse of oxycodone is not new. The introduction 15 years ago of " miracle "

drugs like OxyContin was hailed as a leap forward in the field of pain

management for patients, but early on oxycodone's addictive properties became

clear. Since then, not only have patients developed addictions, but recreational

drug users are increasingly seeking out oxycodone, crushing the pills to negate

time-release formulas and even vaporizing pills, a method called " chasing the

dragon. "

>

> As demand grew, unscrupulous doctors set up shop in strip malls and began

offering large prescriptions dispensed for cash. These " pill mills " popped up by

the hundreds, especially in south Florida. The result is an " Oxy Express, " a

steady flow of users who became black market dealers, selling part of the stash

in their distant hometowns to finance their addictions.

>

> More at link.

> Sent via BlackBerry by AT & T

>