drug tests

EDUCATED APPROACH TO OXYCONTIN

OxyContin is a powerful drug, one that, when abused provides a high some find irresistable.  Its use by young people is increasing, with tragic results.

It sounds like a new public health emergency, but it's really an old story.  Replace OxyContin in the above description with crack, methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin or any of a dozen other drugs identified as a new scourge over the last 50 years, and the story line is the same.

Our long experience with drug abuse should have taught us something.  But we're already seeing the old prohibitionist reflex.  Rep.  Stephen Lynch, D-Boston, has filed legislation to remove OxyContin from the market.  We should know by now that making drugs illegal doesn't stop people from abusing them.

Lynch's proposal has set off alarms among millions of people who have found relief from chronic pain through OxyContin.  Those who suffer from debilitating pain already face inconvenience and stigma as a result of the spike in OxyContin abuse.  They struggle with the attitude, heard from friends, family, some physicians and politicians, that susceptibility to pain is a character flaw that shouldn't be rewarded with the most effective medication available.  These people shouldn't be punished more.

In Lynch's defense, he seems to be more interested in pressuring OxyContin producer Purdue Pharma to change its formula than in criminalizing its possession.  The timed-release feature that makes OxyContin so effective at long-term pain relief disappears when someone looking for a fast high crushes it before inhaling or injecting it.  For years, Purdue has promised to fix this by including a drug that counters the high.  Manufacturers in Canada have taken a different tack, including capsaicin, the active ingredient in hot peppers, in their capsules.  In the capsule, it passes unnoticed through your system, but put even a little in your nose once and you'll never try it again.

Purdue, which makes billions from OxyContin sales, has invested heavily in public relations and drug education.  It ships OxyContin in armored cars to prevent theft.  But it needs to do more to make its product harder to abuse, and the FDA should enforce a solution on Perdue and those peddling generic versions of the drug.

The state can do more as well, by making better use of the Prescription Monitoring Program designed to identify physicians or pharmacists dispensing prescription drugs that are resold by drug dealers.  The program has been collecting data for years, but little has come out of it.

Our schools can also help, by implementing drug abuse education programs that go beyond "just say no." Research is finding addiction, like sensitivity to pain, isn't just a character flaw.  Some people are more prone to addiction than others, and drug education should help children understand the signs of addiction as well as the dangers.

MetroWest Community Health Foundation recently provided $1 million in grants to help five communities develop substance abuse prevention curricula for middle school students.  It's an effort we applaud.

There are three legs to successful substance abuse policy: enforcement, education and treatment.  Treatment has long been the weakest leg, and it has been weakened further by budget cuts at the state level and reductions in mental health benefits by private sector insurers.

The state has cut detox services by 50 percent over the last five years, Jim Cuddy, director of South Middlesex Opportunity Council, told a legislative OxyContin commission at a hearing Monday at Framingham State College.  Eighty percent of 150 people in MetroWest shelters have substance abuse problems, he said.  Since the state shut down its Framingham detox center, even those ready to kick their habits haven't had the support their commitments require.

OxyContin, like so many other drugs, can be used or abused.  Taking pain medication away from sick people isn't the answer.  Better education and treatment is.