The Drug of Choice?

Move over meth; make room for OxyContin. Yup. That’s right oxycodone and hydrocodone. Spokane and Kootenai Counties have recently seen a surprising number of Pharmacy robberies involving the drug. Read the Spokesman Story here. OxyContin (brand name for oxycodone) is a prescription painkiller. Its somewhat easily obtained, and in theory is “legal.” I think what really surprised me was the “users.” Sure the typical druggies turn to it, but police have arrested doctors, even lawyers for abusing the prescription drug.A little more about the drug:

OxyContin, a trade name for the drug oxycodone, is an opium-based narcotic that produces a heroin-like high when the time-release capsules are crushed, then injected, snorted or smoked.

Unlike methamphetamine, which has spurred state-enacted legislation to make its key ingredient – pseudoephedrine – difficult to get, oxycodone can’t be manufactured in a home lab. Addicts forge prescriptions, lie about stolen prescriptions, burglarize homes, hospitals and senior centers, and rob pharmacies to get their fix.

So here’s my question to all of you: Do you think Oxycodone/hydrocodone could be come “the drug of choice”?