There has been a lot of attention recently on the problem of oxycodone abuse in Florida. Florida is one of the easiest places to obtain oxycodone (or as it is generically known, OxyContin) -
Mariana van Zeller's documentary OxyContin Express captures the ever busy pain clinics in Florida and the pain of OxyContin addiction. It might surprise you to see a man smoking the painkiller in the first moments of the video, but this is one of the most common methods of administration for an addict.
[caption id="attachment_473" align="alignleft" width="282" caption="Oxycodone has a variety of side effects. This image gives a comprehensive look at how it affects your body."]
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Time Magazine describes the prevalence of Oxy distributing clinics in Florida: "There are more of these pain clinics here in Broward County than there are McDonald's restaurants: 115 so-called pill mills, vs. about 70 of the burger franchises." It's very easy to get multiple prescriptions, and to get them filled immediately - which is why a Florida pain clinic parking lot sports license plates from states from all over the country.
Over at
the Examiner, Tracy Woolrich cites statistics that underline the seriousness of the problem: while there were only 111 heroin deaths last year, there were 2,488 prescription drug deaths (7 a day). And attitudes toward OxyContin are still dangerously permissive: 1 in 20 high school seniors have taken OxyContin (
NPR), and teenagers seem not to believe that Oxy is as dangerous as cocaine and heroin.