John Tegano, a 24-year-old Alaska resident and former OxyContin dealer and addict, spoke to a local newspaper this week about the destructive effect the drug has had on his life. Tegano just finished serving a two-year sentence for drug-related misconduct. Tegano stressed that although OxyContin use starts out as recreational, it isn't long before use becomes necessary just to make it through the day.
Tegano commented, "I'm trying to get people to realize what can happen - what you lose, what happens to you. ... I will tell you first-hand that this has ruined my life so far. No good comes out of it. ... The negatives outweigh the positives by far. ... You get high for 30 minutes, maybe. After that it is not about getting high - you have to do this just to get through your day."
Tegano comes from a large, close-knit family, where drug problems were unknown. In high school, he and his younger brother briefly experimented with a couple drugs, but never did anything regularly. Tegano first began using OxyContin when he was 19, as a freshman at the University of Nevada at Reno. After one month of using the drug, he knew he couldn't stop. What followed were three years that he barely remembers. "I don't know how it happened, really. ... Before I knew it I was in deep, I was already gone."
For a while he was able to maintain an appearance of normal functioning, which led him to believe that he didn't really have a problem. He devoted most of his energies to making sure he had Oxy on hand at all times. He tried to quit a couple of times, but severe withdrawal symptoms, including cold sweats and vomiting, deterred him. It wasn't until his arrest and court-ordered treatment two years ago that he finally began to recover from his addiction.
OxyContin, which is a chemical cousin of heroin, is often more potent and addictive than its street relative. Tegano commented on what he learned about OxyContin while in treatment: "It's like a super-drug, really, that's what it is. ... The way it was explained to me is that heroin hits your nerve endings and just brushes over them, but OxyContin is scientifically made to go right to those receptors and cover them."
(Source: www.juneauempire.com)
Labels: addiction, oxycontin, drug dealing
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