108. Not milligrams and not deaths, but articles on OxyContin you can find on the New York Times website in their health section. The articles vary in their news and content such as overdoses, lawsuits against the company manufacturers, lawsuits about doctors getting arrested for “pushing” prescription drugs, addicts’ experiences on and getting the drug and so on.
That’s one news source. As I’m typing this, I'm currently in the company of three sober men that abused prescription drugs as their choice of poison. Their “drug of choice,” OxyContin. A widely used painkiller that is a version of the opiod, Oxycodone.
The stories of men and women, getting prescriptions aren’t surprising. Not anymore. It’s almost expected to see men and women enter recovery with a strong addiction to painkillers. The most disappointing of these are the stories of young men and women getting prescribed OxyContin by licensed doctors that have earned the informal name as “Drug Doctors.”
“Its euphoric properties have made OxyContin a popular substitute for heroin among drug abusers, and it has been widely obtained and distributed illegally through faked prescriptions, theft, diversion from pharmacies and the practice of "doctor-shopping," in which people go from one doctor to another seeking multiple prescriptions.” – nytimes.com
OxyContin has not only acted as a substitute to heroine, has also been the gateway drug for stronger opiates such as heroine as well. Many young men and women were first introduced to opiates in the form of prescription medications. The street value of an 80mg OxyContin pill is $50.00. That’s one pill. A gram of heroine goes for around $40.00-80.00 (the closer to the border, the less expensive) and has a much stronger potency than OxyContin. This can become a more attractive drug as addiction takes it’s toll.
The death toll isn’t getting smaller, its growing and OxyContin is definitely on the forefront. What can be done? Well for starters, the FDA has approved a new frmula of OxyCotin. “The reformulated OxyContin is intended to prevent the opioid medication from being cut, broken, chewed, crushed or dissolved to release more medication, thereby potentially decreasing the risk of overdose that could result from tampering.”- nytimes.com Stronger enforcements from our fellow medical professionals would help too. Perhaps the FDA needs to set up a new form of an approval process to administer the drug.
Leave it to us good old addicts and alcoholics to use and abuse what feels good. The drug has its purpose and I’m sure it helps those who need it, like cancer patients for example. But for addicts, the easy to obtain OxyContin has made this drug an appealing “high” and an ugly story.
There’s to be discussed, more experiences to be submitted, and more news to be told. I assure you, have no doubt on that! What do you think should be done?
-Avinash Satz
That’s one news source. As I’m typing this, I'm currently in the company of three sober men that abused prescription drugs as their choice of poison. Their “drug of choice,” OxyContin. A widely used painkiller that is a version of the opiod, Oxycodone.
The stories of men and women, getting prescriptions aren’t surprising. Not anymore. It’s almost expected to see men and women enter recovery with a strong addiction to painkillers. The most disappointing of these are the stories of young men and women getting prescribed OxyContin by licensed doctors that have earned the informal name as “Drug Doctors.”
“Its euphoric properties have made OxyContin a popular substitute for heroin among drug abusers, and it has been widely obtained and distributed illegally through faked prescriptions, theft, diversion from pharmacies and the practice of "doctor-shopping," in which people go from one doctor to another seeking multiple prescriptions.” – nytimes.com
OxyContin has not only acted as a substitute to heroine, has also been the gateway drug for stronger opiates such as heroine as well. Many young men and women were first introduced to opiates in the form of prescription medications. The street value of an 80mg OxyContin pill is $50.00. That’s one pill. A gram of heroine goes for around $40.00-80.00 (the closer to the border, the less expensive) and has a much stronger potency than OxyContin. This can become a more attractive drug as addiction takes it’s toll.
The death toll isn’t getting smaller, its growing and OxyContin is definitely on the forefront. What can be done? Well for starters, the FDA has approved a new frmula of OxyCotin. “The reformulated OxyContin is intended to prevent the opioid medication from being cut, broken, chewed, crushed or dissolved to release more medication, thereby potentially decreasing the risk of overdose that could result from tampering.”- nytimes.com Stronger enforcements from our fellow medical professionals would help too. Perhaps the FDA needs to set up a new form of an approval process to administer the drug.Leave it to us good old addicts and alcoholics to use and abuse what feels good. The drug has its purpose and I’m sure it helps those who need it, like cancer patients for example. But for addicts, the easy to obtain OxyContin has made this drug an appealing “high” and an ugly story.
There’s to be discussed, more experiences to be submitted, and more news to be told. I assure you, have no doubt on that! What do you think should be done?
-Avinash Satz
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