What is OxyContin?

OxyContin is the brand name for an opioid analgesic that is prescribed by doctors for chronic moderate to severe pain. It was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in late 1995. Because it has the ability to slowly release its active ingredient oxycodone over about a twelve-hour period, it is an effective and efficient medication for the millions of people who suffer from chronic pain each year. OxyContin tablets are produced and manufactured by Purdue Pharma in various strengths ranging from 10mg to 160mg and are specifically developed to be taken orally. It is classified as a Schedule II drug, meaning it has a high potential for abuse and is only available by prescription by a licensed physician.

OxyContin as a prescribed medication is a very effective and efficient pain medication. When used for legitimate medical purposes, this controlled substance can improve the quality of life for millions of Americans with debilitating diseases and conditions. It is often prescribed for cancer patients or those with chronic, long-lasting pain. It is when a medication such as this is intentionally misused that it begins to pose a serious public health threat.

When OxyContin Use Becomes OxyContin Abuse

Opioid drugs, such as oxycodone, work primarily through their interaction with the mu opioid receptors, especially in the brain and spinal cord. When activated, these receptors mediate the drugs' analgesic effects. However, they also mediate the ability to produce the euphoric state. Moreover, opioids like oxycodone have similarities to virtually every other drug of abuse, including nicotine, alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine, in that they elevate levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain pathways that control the experience of pleasure.

Prolonged use of these drugs eventually changes the brain in fundamental and long-lasting ways, explaining why people cannot just quit on their own, and why treatment is essential. In effect, drugs of abuse take over the brain's normal pleasure and motivational systems, moving drug use to the highest priority in the individual's motivational hierarchy, thereby overriding all other motivations and drives. These brain changes, then, are responsible for the compulsion to seek and use drugs that we have come to define as addiction. This is likely the state people are in when they are reportedly "doctor shopping," feigning illnesses, and stealing from pharmacies to obtain the drug.

Addiction to opioids used for legitimate medical purposes under a qualified physician's care is rare. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, however, many physicians limit prescribing powerful opioid pain medications because they believe patients may become addicted to the drugs. Recent evidence suggests that, unlike opioid abusers, most healthy, non drug-abusing patients do not report euphoria after being administered opioids, possibly because their level of pain may reduce some of the opioid's euphoric effects making patients less likely to become abusers. (Source: NIDA INFOFAX Pain Medications).

Outlook

Although the relatively sudden increase in drugs such as OxyContin and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) may be among our greatest concerns at this moment, they are just two of the many drugs out there that can harm the citizens of our Nation. The overall picture of drug abuse in the United States is constantly changing. As soon as we get a clear understanding of drug use patterns and gain some control over existing drug problems, new dangerous substances seem to emerge. Similar to the way a virus mutates, both regional and national drug abuse patterns are constantly reshaping and rarely remain static.

Sources:

Hearing before the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee United States Senate - "OxyContin: Balancing Risks and Benefits", National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2002.