Pubdate: Fri, 24 Nov 2006 Source: Truro Daily News (CN NS) Copyright: 2006 The Daily News Contact: http://www.trurodaily.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1159 NEW DOSE OF DRUGS ON THE WAY There's Been a Big Change in the Way Drug Addicts Are Getting Their Fix in the Cities. No longer are the streets strewn with heroin addicts. They've moved on and now prescription drugs are the way to go. The drug of choice is known as Killers, OC, Oxy, OxyCotton or Oxy80 - a reference to the ever-popular 80 mg tablet. These round pills come in a variety of dosages and in capsule or liquid form. They're prescription drugs and sold legally in Canada but drug abusers remove the sustained-release coating to get a rush similar to heroin. They chew the tabs, crush them for snorting, or boil the powder for injection. While prescription drugs are all the rage in the big cities, here in Colchester County we're dealing with the quaint, old-fashioned problem of crack cocaine. Because crack is smoked, users experience a high in less than 10 seconds. This immediate euphoric effect is one of the reasons that crack became enormously popular in the mid-1980s. Another reason is crack is inexpensive both to produce, to buy and to sell. The problem with crack is after the high comes the low and addicts will do nearly anything to get the money for their next fix. What is truly worrisome is the next generation of drugs coming our way. Ice, crystal, glass, jibb, tina - whatever the slang term - it's crystal meth and it has destroyed many lives in Western Canada already. There's no doubt it's coming - the question is will we be ready for the storm when it hits? - --- MAP posted-by: Elaine