Pubdate: Sun, 21 Jul 2002 Source: Portland Press Herald (ME) Copyright: 2002 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. Contact: http://www.portland.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/744 TREATMENT AND PREVENTION NEEDED TO FIGHT OXYCONTIN Thanks to the efforts of medical and law enforcement officials in Washington County, drug abusers are finding it more difficult to obtain OxyContin, the prescription painkiller that has plagued impoverished eastern Maine since shortly after the drug's introduction in 1996. Legislators have toughened smuggling laws to help reduce the flow of narcotics from Canada. Police are cracking down on dealers. Doctors and pharmacists are more careful with prescriptions and wisely are exploring other strategies to combat chronic pain, such as physical therapy, yoga and treatment of underlying depression. As the supply of OxyContin dwindles and the price for a daily fix rises to $300, addicts are faced with a number of choices to support their habits. Some have turned to burglary or prostitution for their drug money. Increasingly, others have taken the dangerous path of heroin, a cheaper but more lethal alternative to OxyContin. "It's beginning to be seen that there's real potential for heroin abuse to take off," said James Cameron, Maine's assistant attorney general and coordinator of the state's drug prosecutors, about the drug problem in Washington County. At $25 a day, heroin is more affordable. It delivers a similar sense of euphoria. It also carries greater risk of overdose. That is why the drug abuse in Maine's poorest regions as well as in its urban centers must be addressed as a societal as well as a criminal problem, from the preventive as well as the prosecutorial end. OxyContin has spawned a population of addicts who need rehabilitation. Restricting the drug's availability is part of the solution, but effective treatment is necessary as well. Without treatment, addicts simply will switch to drugs that are cheaper and easier to obtain. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth