Pubdate: Sat, 11 Jun 2005
Source: Lawrence Journal-World (KS)
Copyright: 2005 The Lawrence Journal-World
Contact: http://www.ljworld.com/site/submit_letter
Website: http://www.ljworld.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1075

POLICE WARY OF A RISE IN ABUSE OF PAINKILLERS

They're meant to be taken as prescribed pills and absorbed by the body
gradually.

But OxyContin, Vicodin and similar prescription painkillers are
increasingly being abused in the Lawrence area, police and
substance-abuse counselors say - often by young people.

"One of the things they're doing now is taking these pills, crushing
them and snorting them," said Lawrence Police Sgt. Tarik Khatib, head
of the joint city-county drug unit. "You basically bypass the time
release, and it's a much quicker onset. My personal view is that
It's just coming, and it's been underreported so far."

A national study released this spring by the Partnership for a
Drug-Free America showed that more teens had tried a prescription
painkiller to get high in 2004 than had tried Ecstasy, cocaine or LSD.
Officials at DCCCA, a drug-treatment center at 3312 Clinton Parkway,
said that they're seeing the trend here, even though they didn't have
statistics on hand.

"We would never hear about OxyContin, we'd never hear about Vicodin
for months at a time, and now every month we get people in here who
are reporting some use," said Nancy Moses, DCCCA's treatment
coordinator.

OxyContin and Vicodin are part of a family of opiate-based painkillers
that includes methadone, codeine and morphine. They're commonly
prescribed for conditions including injuries, arthritis, chronic back
pain and cancer-related pain.

With continued use, they can lead to physical addiction.

Khatib's drug unit recently worked what he said is probably its first
case involving OxyContin. After a series of pharmacy burglaries
throughout the area starting in November 2004, police got a tip from
the grandparents of a 23-year-old Lawrence man, who said they'd found
hundreds of pills on him when he came to visit them in Arkansas for
Thanksgiving.

Police eventually linked him and a 24-year-old friend to two
burglaries at Orchards Drug, 1410 Kasold Drive, an attempted burglary
at a Truecare pharmacy in Baldwin and a burglary at Cedar Creek
Pharmacy in De Soto.

According to a report, the men admitted to both using and selling the
stolen pills.

The 24-year-old, Ryan E. Rofkahr of Lawrence, was booked into the
Douglas County Jail last week after being charged with eight counts
total, including burglary, theft, possession of oxycodone (OxyContin)
with intent to sell, and possession of methadone and heroin. District
Court records show the younger man has yet to be charged.

Khatib said some people are ordering the drugs at online pharmacies or
buying them on the street. Others might forge prescriptions or do
What's known as "doctor shopping" - visiting a large number of doctors
to get overlapping prescriptions.

Mark Smith, pharmacist at Orchards Drug, said he could think of only
one case in the past month where someone had brought in a questionable
prescription for the painkillers.

"I think most of that stuff is coming from mom and dad's medicine
cabinet," he said. 
- ---
MAP posted-by: Josh