This is just starting to show up in my patrol area. It is a Schedule II Narcotic Analgesic.

Very popular in the south-east and midwest. Sold as a prescription timed release pain killer. But abusers crush, chew, snort, or inject it to get the full dose all at once. one 80Mg Oxycontin is the narcotic equivelent of 16 Percosets.

In my Area an 80Mg tablet cost $20.00 but US-DOJ says the street price is $1.00 per MG or $65-80.00 per tablet.

Anyone else run into this one?

I transferred from the beaches to the northern part of the county to take over the evening shift in Jan. 2000. In the beach area, we didn't run into Oxycontin at all. As soon as I arrived in the central area, all hell broke loose.
About 1/3 of the crimes my shift covered (the busiest, largest, 2 districts) were related to Oxycontin. We had a couple of local Dr's who were slinging it about with abandon. One had lines forming at his "pain management" office. People were coming from as far as Texas. We had everything from home invasions to armed robberies, to burglaries and plain old ass whuppins over Oxycontin. Then we had about a dozen deaths from ODing on it. After a lengthy surveillance of the principal offending doctor, we, along with DEA and FDLE shut him down. He was convicted a couple of months ago for manslaughter and racketeering charges. Maybe you saw him on Good Morning America, Dr. James Graves.
It is not quit as bad now. There is still a large underground market for it. We still have some armed robberies of pharmacy's because of it.
Between it and Meth lab's, it really causes lot's of problems.

I have worked several overdose victims from Oxycontin, Most notably a 23 year old girl whose friends basically let her lay there and die because they were too stoned also. They called a local Emergency room at 9:00 AM and said there friend was not breathing......they called 911 at 10:00 AM....We got there she was still warm, and no rigor, but she was asystolic, and her pupils were blown. I worked her anyway, but she was gone.

A local Phillipino Doctor was arrested for trafficking about a year later..I am one of the MANY people who reported her.. All you had to do was walk in and say "My back hurts"...and fork over some cash....

She has alot of local addicts around here who are in need of a fix now

BTW,...one of the common street names for it that you may hear kids use is "O C's" (oh cees)

We are having the same problem in NY and have been for almost a year. I worked up 7 people in my area for it before the WTC incident.

Now the problem is Doctors are afraid to give patients the drug. People like me who need it and Cancer patients are jumping through hoops.

What makes it good in longe term use is that it doesn't make the liver has toxic. Hydrocodone and Tylenol 3 & 4, Percorcet they will ruin the liver. Oxycodone is almost the pure Morphine.

You guys are going to have your hands full when this really catches on. If the drug is taken right 1 per 12 hours or 1 per day it works. When they snort them and mix it with Coke and whatever....Bingo big problems including Heart attacks along with the OD.

This is one of the most dangerous drugs to come along lately. In fact, I think it first caught on in my state a few years ago. This stuff has killed so many people and ruined lives. It is almost an epidemic. Scary stuff. And what is even more scary is what users (abusers) will do to get it. Crime has gone through the roof as users burglarize homes looking for money or stuff to steal and sell in order to get the drug. And many young women (even teenage girls) are basically prostituting themselves in order to get the drug. This stuff needs to be brought under control fast or we are going to have an even worse problem than we currently do. It's sad and scary.

For some reason in the media circus regarding Wynonna Ryders shoplifting arrest it gets overlooked that she had Oxycontin on her. It was a prescription for someone else. I think that explains why her looks are going downhill fast.

It has been a big problem here also.We found a small loophole in the laws that helped us with it.Under the possession law it was a misdemeanor but once we got to studying about it we found we were able to charge people for trafficking. This was under the opium law.You had to weigh it.But it became a felony.One thing are DA wanted for it to apply was some kind of paraphernalia that suggested irregular use.good luck and stay safe.
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