Substance Abuse

Oxycontin: Potential For Misuse Among Patients, As Well As Those Who Obtain It Illegally

Published in Health and Medicine Week, August 20th, 2001

OxyContin, one of the newest drugs prescribed for pain, has become a destructive drug of abuse among recreational drug users obtaining it illegally.

In its time-release pill form, OxyContin is safe taken as prescribed. When abusers crush the pill and sniff the powder, they defeat its time-release function. In this form, the opioid drug is highly addictive.

Jeffrey Lackner, PhD, a pain specialist at the University at Buffalo, New York, warns that the potential for abuse also is high among patients receiving the drug legitimately if they are not monitored closely by their physicians.

"Unfortunately, narcotics for chronic pain are,...

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Source: Health and Medicine Week (2001-08-20)

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