Pubdate: Sun, 25 Mar 2007
Source: Enterprise, The (MA)
Copyright: 2007 The Enterprise
Contact:  http://enterprise.southofboston.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3231
Author: Maureen Boyle
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?232 (Chronic Pain)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone)

Series: Wasted Youth -- Damage Done (5 Of 6)

A Miracle Drug?

OXYCONTIN'S PAIN RELIEF  COMES WITH A HIDDEN COST

After years of near crippling and chronic back pain, a Norton man 
found relief when a doctor prescribed OxyContin.

"It was the only thing that worked," he said.

But then, after five years, his doctor stopped the prescription, 
fearing the man was becoming addicted.

It was already too late.

Today, the 45-year-old man, who once ran his own painting business 
and didn't want his name used, is on methadone to overcome his 
addiction to the heroin he turned to when the OxyContin was gone.

"The number one thing for me was getting rid of the pain," he said.

While teens and young adults are experimenting with -- and getting 
addicted to -- OxyContin bought illegally or swiped from medicine 
cabinets, there is another group of addicts who had been prescribed 
the drug by a doctor.

It wasn't what OxyContin was supposed to be.

When Purdue Pharma put OxyContin on the market in 1996, the drug was 
hailed as a breakthrough in the treatment of severe and chronic pain.

It was called a "miracle drug" by patients with chronic pain and 
offered relief to those with cancer.

Then users discovered that crushing the time-release tablet and 
snorting or injecting the powder produced a heroin-like high.

OxyContin contains oxycodone, a narcotic that has been abused in 
various medications for 30 years, according to the Office of Drug 
Control Policy. The drug produces opiate-like euphoric effects. and 
those who keep taking it can develop a tolerance.

According to the 2004 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, about 3 
million people aged 12 or older had used OxyContin non-medically at 
least once in their lifetime -- up from 2.8 million in 2003.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman