OxyContin abusers switching to heroin

S.J.B.

S.J.B.

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OxyContin abusers switching to heroin
CBC
July 11th, 2012

Many people who abused the painkiller OxyContin by inhaling or injecting it switched to heroin after the prescription's formula changed, U.S. researchers say.

OxyContin was designed to slowly release the opioid drug oxycodone. After people started abusing it by crushing the pills and inhaling the powder or dissolving the pills in water and injecting it to get a rush, the drug maker introduced a new formula in the U.S. in 2010 to make inhaling and injecting more difficult.

The new pills are harder to crush and dissolve more slowly.

In Wednesday's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, investigators in the U.S. said use of OxyContin by inhalation and injection has dropped significantly since the abuse-deterrent form went on the market.

"In that sense, the new formulation was very successful," said author and principal investigator Theodore Cicero, a professor of neuropharmacology in psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Mo.
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Read the full story here.
 
I called this the first time I heard about the new Oxys. I said they are going to go to heroin or switch to morphine. What other choice do they have? I was never one to do oxycodone on a regular basis (it wasn't my habit or DOC), but heroin has always been my DOC. I don't even know why people did oxys to begin with. What a waste of money on an opiate that isn't even all that good.
 
"The most unexpected, and probably detrimental, effect of the abuse-deterrent formulation was that it contributed to a huge surge in the use of heroin," he added in a release.
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Unexpected? Really? This didn't occur to them at all? Because everyone here on BL knew instantly that it would happen.

just switch to methadone. Life is easier that way.
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Most opiate users find methadone fairly shitty as a recreational drug.
 
Crankinit said:
Most opiate users find methadone fairly shitty as a recreational drug.
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I know.

I actually loved methadone. But my home clinic would let me escalate the dose as high as I wanted. They let me take it up to 210 mg! I wonder if those of you that didn't enjoy the methadone tried a dose that high, or were allowed to raise the dose until you felt good.

It's not heroin, but it's really nice. Smooth. Dreamy. Like orange sherbet.

I should mention that I was also prescribed 3 mg alprazolam to take the edge off.
 
This is so old, I am embarrassed for whomever published this as news. I was first in line to go back to heroin. Has it been two years now since they changed the formula? H didn't meet oxy standards of golden nods for me though, and I just gave it up altogether. For me a heroin high is not top shelf, and oxys were.

I did not slam H though. I can't do needles.
 
Anti-drug abuse measure drives many addicts to heroin
http://www.latimes.com/health/boost...in-heroin-drug-abuse-20120711,0,4598801.story

In the record book of unintended consequences, this one's sure to be a groan-worthy entry: A frightening rise in addiction to the drug OxyContin prompts a reformulation that makes the prescription pain medication harder to abuse. So addicts switch to heroin instead.

Clearly, not the hoped-for effect. But according to a letter published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, it's a switch that appears to be happening across the country -- especially in rural and suburban communities, where OxyContin abuse and addiction had gained a firm foothold.

In August 2010, the makers of the opioid pain reliever OxyContin, Purdue Pharma LP, rolled out a new version of OxyContin designed to thwart efforts to crush, split, grind or dissolve the tablet in water. Those abusing the drug had routinely broken the original slow-release version of the tablet and snorted or injected it -- actions which afforded an intense high.


While the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration applauded the new tamper-proof formulation, officials there did warn that emergency departments might see an uptick in drug-abuse-related visits, as OxyContin abusers endured withdrawal or embraced new ways to get high.

(...)

"We're now seeing reports from across the country of large quantities of heroin appearing in rural and suburban areas," said Theodore J. Cicero, vice chair of research at Washington University's department of psychiatry. "Unable to use OxyContin easily, which was a very popular drug in rural and suburban areas, drug abusers who prefer snorting or IV drug administration now have shifted to more potent opioids if they can find them, or to heroin."

In the bid to stem the rise of prescription opioid abuse and dependence, wrote the authors, reformulating popular drugs of abuse "may not be the 'magic bullets' that many hoped."
 
ugly said:
This is so old
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The news is about a study recently completed:

Between July 2010 and March 31, 2012, three researchers -- two from Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., and one from Nova Southeastern University in Coral Gables, Fla., surveyed 2,566 people seeking treatment for abuse of or dependence on opioid drugs. Their aim was to gauge how their habits had changed. They further interviewed 103 of those who filled out surveys anonymously to flesh out their findings.

Those surveyed came from 150 different treatment centers in 39 states.
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http://www.latimes.com/health/booste...,4598801.story
 
I was waiting for someone to post an article on this for a few months now, nevertheless, I had no doubts it wouldn't be posted. I'm gleefully chortling at the knucklehead (and one particular BLer) who claimed I had no clue what I was talking about in the comments section of the initial article concerning OxyNEO formulation long term effects on recreational users. Apparently some very enlightened plebeians assured me things would go back to normal for those of us using OC once the new version would be phased in.
 
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