Pubdate: Thu, 19 Jul 2001
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Section: Pg B1
Copyright: 2001 Globe Newspaper Company
Contact:  http://www.boston.com/globe/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52
Author: Catherine Holahan
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?186 (Oxycontin)

LEGISLATURE WEIGHS OXYCONTIN THEFTS AGAINST BENEFITS

Before OxyContin, showering was a dreaded part of Gregg Needham's morning 
routine.

After he fell 21/2 stories in a burning building four years ago, shattering 
bones in his legs and back, Needham, a former captain of the Worcester Fire 
Department, said the pressure of the water was like "a thousand pinpoints 
burning into my back."

"I tried everything, and still couldn't even stand because of the pain" 
Needham said. "With OxyContin I'm 95-percent pain-free."

As members of the state Legislature's Joint Committee on Public Safety deal 
with benefits and dangers of the powerful painkiller, they listened 
yesterday to the myriad voices of people in the OxyContin debate.

At a committee hearing, doctors, patients, and the drug's maker testified 
against attempts to severely limit access to the drug, which has been 
blamed for increased addiction problems, and to 37 robberies in six months.

"Please don't take this drug away," Needham said.

However, officials representing terrified pharmacists together with police, 
expressed fears that without added restriction on access to the drug, 
robberies might soon turn deadly.

"People are scared," said Bernard Rogan, a spokesman for Shaw's and Star 
Markets, explaining why the chains recently stopped stocking the drug. "We 
were afraid we were putting" customers and pharmacists in danger.

Police recommended increasing the security classificiation for the drug, to 
require a pharmacist to call a person's doctor before it is sold. This 
would allow pharmacies not to stock it, and would permit judges to sentence 
an unauthorized recipient of the drug for a first simple possession.

Vincent J. Mazzilli, a special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement 
Administration's New England diversion unit, and others offered evidence of 
the increase in drug addiction caused by abuse of OxyContin.

"Emergency room episodes nationwide have doubled since 1996 when OxyContin 
first appeared," he said. "It's considered a white-collar drug, and abuse 
has risen in all ethnic groups."

And officials from the state Office of Public Safety said that until six 
months ago, Massachusetts State Police detectives had never handled a case 
in which OxyContin stolen from a pharmacy had been sold illegally on the 
street. But in the past six months there have been 100 such cases.

For their part, committee members spent the day listening to the two sides 
and pitching possible solutions.

"OxyContin abuse is a very serious problem, and it's just a question of 
when an incident is going to turn violent and a customer or pharmacist is 
going to get hurt," said Senator James Jajuga, a Methuen Democrat who sits 
on the joint committee. "But the committee is sensitive to the fact that 
this drug is a miracle drug for people in serious pain."

Legislators suggested outfitting pharmacies with bullet-proof glass, 
restricting OxyContin to a mail-order system, requiring special 
identification cards for patients, and increasing the penalties for 
stealing the drug.

The suggestions received mixed reviews from people at the hearing that 
largely followed the views they had held in the debate.

Though bulletproof glass would protect pharmacies, the state public safety 
secretary, Jane Perlov, cautioned that such a measure might make customers 
and pharmacists feel uncomfortable.

She also said that moving OxyContin to a higher security classificiation to 
stiffen sentences for its abuse could excessively restrict access.

Similarly, identification cards would make the drug more difficult to 
obtain for everyone, including patients who often rely on others to get 
their prescriptions.

The Boston City Council is expected to hear testimony this morning from the 
Boston Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Boston 
Public Health Commission, local pharmacists and the public.
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