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Last week, the city of San Diego launched a regional task force to investigate and evaluate prescription drug abuse in the greater San Diego area. The "Oxy" task force is especially concerned with the abuse of potent narcotic painkillers such as oxycodone (brand name OxyContin) by youth.

District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis called teen abuse of oxycodone by San Diego youth an "emerging epidemic" -- a description echoed by other government and law enforcement officials. San Diego is experiencing rising numbers of prosecutions and deaths related to prescription drugs.

One of the task force's first responsibilities will be to measure the extent and impact of prescription drug abuse in the region. Although authorities possess basic evidence that prescription drug abuse is a growing problem, they have not yet thoroughly investigated and evaluated the trend. The task force will be charged with determining how many youth are using prescription medications to get high.

The task force will collect additional information from law enforcement, hospitals, schools and treatment centers, and will also work to raise community awareness of prescription drug abuse by teens. This past weekend, the task force organized the first-ever countywide collection of prescription drugs no longer needed. Residents dropped off about 321 pounds of medications and related supplies.

Amy Roderick, spokeswoman for San Diego's DEA office, commented: "We believe the abuse is at the epidemic level because people who are starting to use OxyContin do not have an underlying medical condition that led to the long-term use and eventual abuse and addiction. Now people are using them in concert with or instead of illicit drugs, solely for the purpose of getting high."

(Source: www.voiceofsandiego.org)

Labels: prescription-drug-abuse, teen drug abuse, oxycodone, oxycontin

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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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