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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 uses 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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