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OXYCONTIN STILL LEADS IN PRESCRIPTION DRUG ABUSE IN FLORIDA
SARASOTA, FLORIDA -- Local drug-prevention programs are expanding their focus beyond alcohol and marijuana this fall to combat the rising trend of prescription drug abuse.
"Drug abuse comes in fads, and right now any prescription use is popular," said Barbara Kochmit, prevention director at the Sarasota, Florida Coalition on Substance Abuse.
A prescription painkiller, OxyContin, has been singled out as a threat.
According to a survey released in March, a higher percentage of middle and high school students in Sarasota have tried OxyContin than in any other county in Florida.
The 2002 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey reports that 5.9 percent of students in grades six to 12 in Sarasota County, Florida say they have experimented with the drug, compared with a 2.5 percent state average. Charlotte County, Florida ranked third in students who have used the drug in the last 30 days, behind Sarasota and Holmes counties.
Florida drug prevention specialists and law enforcement officials are focusing on OxyContin and other prescription drugs such as Adderall and Vicodin in presentations to parents and students.
OxyContin is the "up-and-coming drug," said Detective Chris Shaw of the Sarasota, Florida Sheriff's Department. "A few years back it was ecstasy, but both heroin and pills have filtered down."
In 2002, OxyContin was added as a new category in the survey administered to about 1,000 students in Sarasota, Charlotte, and Manatee counties, and to more than 60,000 students in Florida. The survey asks students grades 6 to 12 questions about their alcohol, tobacco, and drug use.
Sgt. David Zachos, the school resource officer who monitors all of South County, attributes the high rate of prescription drug abuse throughout the Florida, county to a number of factors, including the prevalence of prescription drugs, the affluence of the local population, and the large number of residents receiving prescription drugs in Sarasota, Florida.
He adds, "There are just more prescriptions being written now, compared to 10 years ago."
"OxyContin and prescription drugs have taken over," said Detective Rich Starowesky of the Sarasota County, Florida Sheriff's Department, who monitors Venice High School. "We have a zero tolerance policy toward these drugs."
OxyContin, an opioid agonist with effects similar to morphine, was introduced six years ago by Purdue Pharma LP. It is commonly prescribed to alleviate moderate to severe pain in patients suffering from cancer or spinal injury.
As sales have increased to $1.5 billion annually, OxyContin has gained notoriety as the "poor man's heroin." On the streets the drug is also known as "hillbilly heroin," "Oxy," and "Oxycotton."
"OxyContin became hot because it gave you a euphoria that lasted for hours," said Edwin Hering, a former user who lives in North Port, Florida. Hering, now 25, started using less potent painkillers like Vicodin before progressing to OxyContin two years ago: "Because OxyContin is synthetic it is so addicting. Within three days of using it you're hooked."
Hering recalls that the majority of people he bought from were Florida high school students. "A lot of times you wouldn't be able to hook up with anything because these kids were still in school."
OxyContin is especially dangerous when it is mixed with alcohol and other drugs, a cocktail that has often proved fatal. The Drug Enforcement Administration has said OxyContin may have contributed to 464 deaths nationwide in the past two years. The drug has been responsible for a number of deaths in the county. In 2001 two men died of an OxyContin overdose at Oscar Scherer State Park in Osprey.
OxyContin abusers often grind the tablets into powder to disable the time-release component before snorting or injecting the drug. This produces an immediate high that is particularly dangerous as users overdose because they are unprepared for the purity of the drug. One 80mg tablet of OxyContin, $35-50 on the street, produces a high equivalent to or more potent than that from a bag of heroin, according to Hering.
This February a Sarasota, Florida doctor, Bach McComb, was charged with trafficking in OxyContin and other painkillers from his downtown, Florida office. The Florida Department of Health suspended McComb's license on April 11, accusing him of prescribing more than 32,000 doses of narcotic painkillers. Because of such abuses, doctors and pharmacists are increasingly cautious when dispensing the drug, according to Detective Shaw.
Because it is highly addictive, even patients who have received legitimate prescriptions for OxyContin have found themselves hooked. Cheryl-Lynn Montalvan-Velarde, a 38-year-old insurance agent who lives in Sarasota, Florida. took the drug for a spinal injury. "It did work, but the side effects were incredible," she said. "I ended up needing to detox and needed followup psychiatric treatment."
Montalvan-Velarde has also had her OxyContin stolen from her. She said her son's friends were attracted to her drugs and that one even asked, "Do you know what those are worth?"
"Kids are stealing drugs from their parents and grandparents," said Lisa Phillips, a prevention specialist at the Sarasota, Florida Coalition on Substance Abuse.
SARASOTA, FLORIDA -- Local drug-prevention programs are expanding their focus beyond alcohol and marijuana this fall to combat the rising trend of prescription drug abuse.
"Drug abuse comes in fads, and right now any prescription use is popular," said Barbara Kochmit, prevention director at the Sarasota, Florida Coalition on Substance Abuse.
A prescription painkiller, OxyContin, has been singled out as a threat.
According to a survey released in March, a higher percentage of middle and high school students in Sarasota have tried OxyContin than in any other county in Florida.
The 2002 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey reports that 5.9 percent of students in grades six to 12 in Sarasota County, Florida say they have experimented with the drug, compared with a 2.5 percent state average. Charlotte County, Florida ranked third in students who have used the drug in the last 30 days, behind Sarasota and Holmes counties.
Florida drug prevention specialists and law enforcement officials are focusing on OxyContin and other prescription drugs such as Adderall and Vicodin in presentations to parents and students.
OxyContin is the "up-and-coming drug," said Detective Chris Shaw of the Sarasota, Florida Sheriff's Department. "A few years back it was ecstasy, but both heroin and pills have filtered down."
In 2002, OxyContin was added as a new category in the survey administered to about 1,000 students in Sarasota, Charlotte, and Manatee counties, and to more than 60,000 students in Florida. The survey asks students grades 6 to 12 questions about their alcohol, tobacco, and drug use.
Sgt. David Zachos, the school resource officer who monitors all of South County, attributes the high rate of prescription drug abuse throughout the Florida, county to a number of factors, including the prevalence of prescription drugs, the affluence of the local population, and the large number of residents receiving prescription drugs in Sarasota, Florida.
He adds, "There are just more prescriptions being written now, compared to 10 years ago."
"OxyContin and prescription drugs have taken over," said Detective Rich Starowesky of the Sarasota County, Florida Sheriff's Department, who monitors Venice High School. "We have a zero tolerance policy toward these drugs."
OxyContin, an opioid agonist with effects similar to morphine, was introduced six years ago by Purdue Pharma LP. It is commonly prescribed to alleviate moderate to severe pain in patients suffering from cancer or spinal injury.
As sales have increased to $1.5 billion annually, OxyContin has gained notoriety as the "poor man's heroin." On the streets the drug is also known as "hillbilly heroin," "Oxy," and "Oxycotton."
"OxyContin became hot because it gave you a euphoria that lasted for hours," said Edwin Hering, a former user who lives in North Port, Florida. Hering, now 25, started using less potent painkillers like Vicodin before progressing to OxyContin two years ago: "Because OxyContin is synthetic it is so addicting. Within three days of using it you're hooked."
Hering recalls that the majority of people he bought from were Florida high school students. "A lot of times you wouldn't be able to hook up with anything because these kids were still in school."
OxyContin is especially dangerous when it is mixed with alcohol and other drugs, a cocktail that has often proved fatal. The Drug Enforcement Administration has said OxyContin may have contributed to 464 deaths nationwide in the past two years. The drug has been responsible for a number of deaths in the county. In 2001 two men died of an OxyContin overdose at Oscar Scherer State Park in Osprey.
OxyContin abusers often grind the tablets into powder to disable the time-release component before snorting or injecting the drug. This produces an immediate high that is particularly dangerous as users overdose because they are unprepared for the purity of the drug. One 80mg tablet of OxyContin, $35-50 on the street, produces a high equivalent to or more potent than that from a bag of heroin, according to Hering.
This February a Sarasota, Florida doctor, Bach McComb, was charged with trafficking in OxyContin and other painkillers from his downtown, Florida office. The Florida Department of Health suspended McComb's license on April 11, accusing him of prescribing more than 32,000 doses of narcotic painkillers. Because of such abuses, doctors and pharmacists are increasingly cautious when dispensing the drug, according to Detective Shaw.
Because it is highly addictive, even patients who have received legitimate prescriptions for OxyContin have found themselves hooked. Cheryl-Lynn Montalvan-Velarde, a 38-year-old insurance agent who lives in Sarasota, Florida. took the drug for a spinal injury. "It did work, but the side effects were incredible," she said. "I ended up needing to detox and needed followup psychiatric treatment."
Montalvan-Velarde has also had her OxyContin stolen from her. She said her son's friends were attracted to her drugs and that one even asked, "Do you know what those are worth?"
"Kids are stealing drugs from their parents and grandparents," said Lisa Phillips, a prevention specialist at the Sarasota, Florida Coalition on Substance Abuse.
