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Hernando Today

Popping Pills For Pleasure

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By KYLE MARTIN

Hernando Today

Published: March 23, 2008

Drugs have been a part of American culture since the days a sprinkle of cocaine put the kick in carbonated soda.

Each generation, it seems, has its narcotic of choice: the opiates of the Roarin' 20s; cocaine at the height of disco fever; heroin in the age of MTV.

But there's been a shift.

Today's popular drug doesn't come from the humid jungles of Colombia or a poppy field in Afghanistan.

It's in your medicine cabinet.

Prescription pills are an attractive recreational drug for a variety of reasons. High on the list is that the drugs are legal. Acquiring a doctor's signature is much easier than smuggling narcotics across the border.

Another draw is the quality control. Ingesting pills made by a nationally recognized company in a sterile laboratory is considerably safer than methamphetamine cooked in a crusty bathtub.

But do they deliver the same high?

Sources have told an undercover narcotics detective that crushing up and injecting oxycodone delivers three times the effect of heroin.

That same sheriff's detective, who cannot be named for security reasons, believes the growth in pain clinics has a lot to do with the jump in prescription pill abuse.

"It's becoming an epidemic more and more," he said.

About The Pills

The most commonly abused pills fall into three categories: The painkillers called opioids, which include OxyContin and Vicodin; the depressants such as Xanax that treat anxiety; and the stimulants, including Ritalin.

In 2006, seven million Americans, or 2.8 percent of the population, used these pills for non-medical purposes, according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse.

To get a better idea on the damaging effects of prescription pill abuse, consider figures from the Florida medical examiner's interim report for 2007.

Excluding alcohol, prescription drugs accounted for 69 percent of all drug occurrences. Deaths by Oxycodone and Hydrocodone increased 9.5 percent and 8.1 percent, respectively, during the first half of 2007.

Pharmacies On Guard

Like any other drug, a wave of crime follows behind prescription pill abuse. But these addicts can bypass purse snatchings and home burglaries to go straight for the source: pharmacies.

"That's what causes violence, the withdrawal," the detective said. "They have a craving and they need to feed that addiction."

Investigators are still on the case of two pharmacies that were held up within two hours of each other on Tuesday. The robberies are not considered linked at this time.

Consequently, pharmacists are feeling the pressure to watch their backs and tighten up security in their stores. Two local pharmacies didn't want to comment for this article for fear of being targeted.

Pharmacist Chirag Amin has installed cameras, shutters and other measures to deter any would be robbers at Cortez Drugs.

"You just have to bump it up," he said. "There's no doubt about it."

The pharmacy only fills prescriptions from the four to five local doctors they recognize in an effort to deter fraud. Everyone else is turned away.

Ken Norfleet, owner of Sunshine Wellness Center, said the risk of robbery is nothing new and comes with the territory.

"We've always been targeted," he said of pharmacies. "But you can't let that dominate you."

Still, his business is not taking any risks. Starting three to four years ago, phony prescriptions began crossing the counter. Now prescriptions from out-of-town doctors prompt a call to make sure it's legit.

Legitimate Needs Overshadowed

All the hype surrounding the surge in abuse overshadows legitimate people in need, says Dr. Scott Fishman, president and chairman of the American Pain Foundation.

New studies show that many Americans are under-treated for pain and the blame falls on both doctors and patients.

Patients are scared to mention they need medication because they think their doctor will suspect they are a junkie. The stigma surrounding prescription pills is that everyone will be hooked if they start taking them and that's "far from the truth," Fishman said.

On the other hand, doctors hesitate to prescribe pills for fear federal investigators will come knocking on their door.

"We have a problem that is soaring," Fishman said.

What needs to be recognized, in Fishman's opinion, is that pain can become a chronic disease every bit as damaging as cancer or heart disease.

There are patients who have legitimate medical concerns with reason to use controlled substances. Those medications should be kept safe and not abused, he said.

Cooperation Is The Key

It's unclear when dealers wised up to the lucrative market in pills, but some say as far back as 10 years, with the brunt of the surge coming five years later.

There are two classes of addicts: people who intentionally set out to abuse them and others who become hooked through genuine means.

The sheriff's detective encounters people who have built up a tolerance and begin popping up to 14 pills a day. They're like functioning alcoholics, he said, that consume massive quantities of alcohol without showing any effects.

By his estimates, it's about evenly split between druggies and folks caught up in an addiction. The average user is between 20 and 30 years old, he says.

But the National Institute of Drug Abuse has also found that 9.6 percent of 12th-graders reported the use of Vicodin and 5.2 percent abused Oxycontin in 2007.

Dr. Fishman said the data is unclear about the source of the pills, but most indications are that it's from robberies and warehouse break-ins - not doctors.

The fight to curb this new trend is done through networking with other agencies and communicating with pharmacies.

Often people will float from Pasco to Hernando counties with phony prescriptions, so the narcotics deputies from those agencies alert each other about suspicious activity.

What would be really great, the detective said, is if there was a central database that the pharmacies could reference if there were red flags on a suspect.

A cooperative effort is the key to busting this, the detective said.

"You can't really take it on yourself."

Reporter Kyle Martin can be reached at 352-544-5271 or kmartin@hernandotoday.com.

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