Pubdate: Sun, 07 Dec 2003
Source: Lexington Herald-Leader (KY)
Copyright: 2003 Lexington Herald-Leader
Contact:  http://www.kentucky.com/mld/heraldleader/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/240
Author: Tom Lasseter, David Stephenson
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A FAMILIAR STORY: FROM MINER TO DRUG USER TO DEALER

Harlan County Sheriff Steve Duff has heard stories like those of John and 
David Perkins plenty of times: A coal miner gets hurt and turns to dealing 
for some extra cash.

First it was bootlegging alcohol, Duff said. Then came marijuana. And the 
number of dealers -- former coal miners and a lot of other people -- has 
only increased during recent years with the rush of the painkiller 
OxyContin, Duff said.

"They'll do it to supplement their income," he said. If a dealer gets his 
hands on a bottle of 60 OxyContin pills, 40 milligrams each, he can take in 
more than $3,000, Duff said.

A 2002 report by an agency of the U.S. Department of Justice said pill 
addiction in Eastern Kentucky has roots in local industry.

"In the past, coal miners spent hours each day crouched in narrow mine 
shafts," the report said. "Pain-killers were dispensed by coal mine camp 
doctors in an attempt to keep the miners working. Self-medicating became a 
way of life for miners, and this practice often led to abuse and addiction 
among individuals who would have been disinclined to abuse traditional 
illicit drugs."

These days, the profit motive to sell OxyContin is huge, Duff said.

In places such as Harlan and McCreary counties, a lot of people could use 
the money. When David Perkins was a toddler in 1969, 42.2 percent of 
Harlan's population lived below the poverty line.

Those U.S. Census numbers have improved, but in 1999 they were still far 
higher than the national rate of 12.4 percent. For Harlan, the figure was 
32.5 percent. In McCreary County, it was 32.2 percent.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman