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OxyContin®
What is OxyContin®?
OxyContin®
is the brand name of a time-release formula of the analgesic chemical
oxycodone. OxyContin®, which is produced by the pharmaceutical company
Purdue Pharma, is prescribed as a pain medication. Instances of abuse
of this drug have increased in recent years.
Street terms for
OxyContin®: Hillbilly heroin, Oxy, Oxycotton1
What does OxyContin® look like?
- OxyContin® comes
in tablet form.
What are the methods
of usage?
- Chewing the tablets
- Snorting crushed
tablets
- Dissolving tablets
in water and injecting
- These methods
cause a faster, highly dangerous release of medication.
Who abuses OxyContin®?
- Abuse of OxyContin® in rural Maine, Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia brought national
attention to this problem.
- The areas most
currently affected by OxyContin® abuse are eastern Kentucky; New Orleans,
Louisiana; southern Maine; Philadelphia and southwestern Pennsylvania;
southwestern Virginia; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Phoenix, Arizona.2
- An increase in
illegal use has been especially apparent on the East Coast.3
- 9% or 19.9 million
Americans have used pain relievers illegally in their lifetime.4
How does OxyContin® get to the United States?
- Because it is
a legal drug, OxyContin® is supplied across the country for legitimate
medical purposes.
- Word of mouth
has allowed users to devise illicit usage techniques.
- Pharmacy robberies,
health care fraud, and international trafficking constitute illicit
distribution ability.
How much does OxyContin® cost?
- When legally sold,
a 10-mg tablet of OxyContin® will cost $1.25 and an 80-mg tablet will
cost $6.
- When illegally
sold, a 10-mg tablet of OxyContin® can cost between $5 and $10. An 80-mg
tablet can cost between $65 and $80.5
What are some consequences
of illicit OxyContin® use?
- Long-term usage
can lead to physical dependence.6
- A large dosage
can cause severe respiratory depression that can lead to death.7
- Withdrawal symptoms
include restlessness, muscle and bone pain, insomnia, diarrhea, vomiting,
cold flashes with goose bumps, and involuntary leg movements.8
1Office
of National Drug Control Policy, Street Terms: Drugs and the Drug
Trade.
2Drug Enforcement Administration, OxyContin ®;:
Pharmaceutical Diversion, March 2002.
3DEA
Congressional Testimony, December 11, 2001.
4Office of National Drug Control Policy, OxyContin® Fact
Sheet.
5United States Department of Justice, OxyContin® Diversion
and Abuse, January 2001.
6National Institute on Drug Abuse, Prescription
Drugs: Abuse and Addiction, February 2002.
7Ibid.
8Ibid.
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