Pubdate: Wed, 18 May 2005 Source: Mitchell News-Journal (NC) Copyright: 2005 Mitchell News-Journal Contact: http://www.mitchellnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1777 Author: Nathan Hall Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone) DRUG PROBLEMS Prescription Drugs Have Played A Part In 16 Deaths By Overdose In The Last Four Years In Mitchell When asked about the Mitchell County's biggest problem, Sheriff Ken Fox has two words: prescription drugs. Of all the illicit drugs available in Mitchell County, Fox said black market pills are consistently lethal. "People just don't realize how dangerous it is," he said. And too often, they never learn. In the last four years, overdoses from prescription pills have killed 16 people, Fox said. The oldest victim was a 61-year-old woman, the youngest an 18-year-old man. Fox said the average age for a prescription drug overdose death is 36. According to Janice Grindstaff, Medical Records Supervisor for Spruce Pine Community Hospital, there were 73 overdose cases admitted to SPCH from May 2004 to May 2005. She said these included overdoses from prescription painkillers, oxycontin, methadone, anti-depressants, and tranquilizers. But Fox said public perception often differs greatly from the reality law enforcement must deal with. He said many people hear of overdoses on methadone, a prescription drug used to treat addiction, and confuse methadone with methamphetamine. Fox said many people get methadone from drug rehabilitation clinics. Others buy it illegally, or steal it, he said. Methamphetamine is a different kind of problem, Fox said. It takes a terrible toll on the body, family, and community, Fox said, but has yet to cause a fatal overdose. In August 2003, Joe Martin, a Clinical Addiction Specialist with New Vistas Behavioral Health Services, told the Mitchell News-Journal that prescription drug abuse can be devastating to rural areas. He said many people are in trouble from the first time they misuse prescription drugs. "It seems like some people are more biologically predisposed to addiction," he said. Martin said many who fall victim to the drugs start with misuse of a legitimate prescription, or may take drugs given by a friend to self-treat a condition. Martin said the drug oxycontin has been a wake-up call to many rural communities about the danger of prescription drugs. "When people start dying, that's sometimes the only thing that gets people's attention," he said. Martin has plenty of experience, and knows the extent of the problem. "I have seen more people die in this area in the last two years than in my previous 23 years put together," he said. "And that's pretty scary." - --- MAP posted-by: Beth