Pubdate: Thu, 23 Feb 2006
Source: Gloucester Daily Times (MA)
Copyright: 2006 Essex County Newspapers, Incorporated.
Contact: http://www.salemnews.com/email/#Editor-g
Website: http://www.gloucestertimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/169
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/dare.htm (D.A.R.E.)

KEEP DRUGS OUT OF REACH

A report presented Tuesday by the Healthy Gloucester Collaborative on
local OxyContin and heroin use was both stark and disturbing. And it
should lay to rest any doubt that OxyContin, while it is a legal
substance prescribed by doctors and distributed at pharmacies, is a
gateway drug more powerful and dangerous than alcohol or marijuana. It
is true that OxyContin, when used as directed, can be safe as a
powerful and effective painkiller. But, as the report shows, its power
is too frequently  abused.

It is too easy to get, and too easy to get addicted.

One addict said he  started using prescription painkillers when he had
a tooth removed.

The prescription came with free refills.

Within 30 days he was addicted, and when he  couldn't afford the pills
any more, he moved on to heroin. And that is just one story among
dozens heard by those who surveyed focus groups of users aged 18 to
25. According to Jack Vondras, head of the city's Health Department,
"most of them had never used OxyContin before.

And when they did, they had a very fast track to heroin." The
participants in the survey also reported that they felt "safe" taking
OxyContin, since it came through approved medical channels.

By the time they were addicted and descended into heroin use, it was
too late. The crisis in Gloucester is worse than it is statewide.

Admission of local addicts to state treatment programs five years ago
was at a rate nearly 70 percent greater than the state average.

And the evidence is that things are getting worse, both on Cape Ann
and throughout the region. Local police departments continue to report
increases in home invasions, shoplifting and armed robberies, the kinds of
crimes that produce quick cash to feed drug habits.

The Essex County drug task force confiscated substantially larger
amounts of OxyContin pills and heroin in 2005 than it did the previous
year. There are efforts, both in place and under consideration, from
the state Department of Public Health to District Attorney Jonathan
Blodgett to the local level, to confront the problem. Blodgett has
called for more efforts to educate both students and parents. Yet it
remains an open question whether education alone can stem the tide of
drug abuse.

Drug Abuse Resistance Education, the well-known D.A.R.E. program, has
been around for 19 years but didn't prevent the rising tide of opiate
use. Activists hope that specifically targeting opiates will be more
effective than  crusading against drug use in general, but it will be
years before there is  evidence to confirm that. There are calls for
more treatment.

Years of research into addiction have shown that there may be a
genetic component to it, that children born to alcoholic parents
are more likely to become alcoholics themselves, even if  adopted and
raised by nonalcoholics. But unlike some genetic diseases, merely
carrying the genes for chemical dependency doesn't mean a child will
become an addict.

The harder it is for them to get their hands on legal or illegal
substances, the less likely it is they'll  get hooked. So when it
comes to OxyContin or other, similar painkillers, it is imperative
that access to them be more tightly controlled. The state has proposed
new regulations that would require those getting OxyContin
prescriptions to show an  ID, which would be fed into a database and
presumably curb the practice of seeking multiple prescriptions for the
same ailment from different doctors. That is a good start.

But there should also be a push to urge doctors to be cautious about
how they prescribe such medications. They should be part of a team
that works to make sure prescriptions are not duplicated. Education
and treatment are important.

But access is even more important. Children cannot become addicted to
drugs they can't  get.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin