Pubdate: Sat, 12 Jul 2003 Source: Register-Herald, The (WV) Copyright: 2003 The Register-Herald Contact: http://www.register-herald.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1441 OXYCONTIN: WE HAVE A SERIOUS PROBLEM, AND IT'S NOT GOING TO GO AWAY How bad is the OxyContin problem in southern West Virginia? In the past two months, five pharmacy robberies have occurred in Raleigh County. In June, a burglary ring tied to OxyContin was broken up by Raleigh sheriff's detectives - after a man was beaten, they said, over an apparent OxyContin debt. Earlier this week, 12 people were arrested in Nicholas and Webster counties, most on charges related to OxyContin. "This area has had a problem with OxyContin for some time now," State Police Trooper B.K. Cochran of the Richwood detachment said. Two days earlier, a Nicholas County woman was arrested after allegedly selling her 2-year-old son for $500 so she could buy OxyContin. Problems with OxyContin - an effective pain-killer when used as prescribed but a highly addictive, dangerous and sometimes fatal menace when misused and abused - are not going to just go away. It's going to take a continuous effort by law enforcement, social services, the medical community and, yes, ordinary citizens to end illegal practices with a legal drug. And education must be part of the solution. It's never too early to relay this message: If you experiment with OxyContin - or, for that matter, other controlled substances or homemade concoctions, you're going to get hooked and you're going to get caught. And you could die. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh