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Oxycodone
Percoset
"The thing about Percs, or any pills really, is that they're fast and easy. You don't need to drink all day, or blow your nose apart snorting. I think that's one of the reasons why a lot of people start and stay with pills." Riley F. - 3 years clean * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"I got started with Percs in the hospital after I got a compound fracture when I spilled my bike and I was taking them for the pain in my leg. But I kept taking them for the pain I had inside, long after my leg was better. I think for just over three years I was doing 20 to 80mgs a day and it was never enough. Then I started mixing and in the end, if somebody held out their hand with a pill in it, it was in my mouth and down my throat before I I even asked what it was. I'm off of them now, but I think about it everyday, sometimes every hour." Norman - 11 mos. clean
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(Page 1 of 8 In This Section) When the abuse of pain medication abuse in North America really took off, countless "secondary" victims were created in the form of people who have a legitimate need for such medications and the physicians who are attempting to provide comfort and a quality of life for such people. Innocent people have been caught in the cross-fire, many have been prosecuted and in many cases, this has resulted in convictions carrying in some cases, incredible prison sentences. So while the focus of our examination of Oxycontin and other opiates will primarily focus on the illicit use of these drugs, let's not lose sight of the other victims. Anyone living with chronic pain, or who knows someone living with chronic pain, realizes that such medications can in some cases, make the difference between wanting to live or die. And prescribing medication for pain is probably one of the most difficult tasks that a physician is faced with and we'll explain why a little further along. So we don't want to add fuel to the fire, at least not to the wrong fire. And so we hope you find the following to be a balanced, intelligent look at this subject and if you don't, please let us know - your comments and feedback are highly valued by us. The Opioid Analgesics To begin with, we should point out the distinction between "opiate," and "opioid" because they're often used interchangeably and shouldn't be. "Opiates" are narcotic analgesics (pain relievers) that are either "natural" like morphine and codeine, or "semi-synthetic," like heroin, oxycodone, and so on. (Oxycontin is a brand name of oxycodone.) Confused yet? The term "opioid" on the other hand, includes analgesics that are fully synthetic, such as methadone and fentanyl as examples. " Opioid" is actually the correct term when referring to the entire family of opium-based drugs. In the world of addictions, the opioid analgesics (pain relievers) are becoming the abused drug of choice for many and for a variety of reasons. But at the simplest level, consider a drug that reduces or completely eliminates pain, induces a dream-like, euphoric state, and provides positive reinforcement that taking it is good for you and that you should continue to take more. Few other drug types work in this unique and potentially dangerous way and some feel that opioids should be shown in the dictionary as an illustration for "addiction." We couldn't find verifiable figures for Canada, but in 2005, an estimated 50 million Americans spent almost $12 billion on prescription painkillers, and of these people, about 1,490,000 became addicted. And it can happen fast - much faster than most people think. So it's not what you would call, a "small and isolated problem." In addition, with the advent of internet-based drug vendors, it's really impossible to obtain verfiable numbers, and we always feel that whatever the figures are that are given, it's probably always higher - much higher. So there's every reason to expect that now, in 2008, we're looking at huge numbers. What separates one opioid from another (whether natural or synthetic) is basically the drug's "efficacy" and potency. While potency refers to strength or "kick," efficacy refers to how effective it is at producing the desired effect. As you will see, the range starts low with drugs like codeine, moves through medium strength with something like Oxycontin, and reaches a high with morphine, heroin and the king of them all, Fentanyl. It can be somewhat confusing, because each of these drugs have "analogs" or drugs that are very similar, but go by a different trade name. Introduced in December 1995, OxyContin is a trade name for the drug "oxycodone hydrochloride," the active ingredient in over 40 different brand names of prescription pain medication. It's just one in a family of opiates that are most often used for treatment of pain. Basically, it's synthetic morphine. While this tutorial focuses on Oxycontin because it's currently one of the most widely abused pain medications (though not the most prescribed,) you might want at least a passing familiarity with all of them.
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