Blue State Drug Epidemic - Methadone Deaths Are Rising in New England; Police Get Tough

http://www.newsmax.com/us/methadone_deaths/2008/04/17/88833.html

Methadone Deaths Are Rising in New England; Police Get Tough

Thursday, April 17, 2008

LACONIA, N.H. -- When her 20-year-old son stumbled home one night last

October, Gail DeLucca told him to go to bed and sleep it off. "I love you,

Ray," she called up the stairs, figuring she would wait until morning to

lecture him about drinking.

But it wasn't alcohol that made her son so woozy. It was methadone, and it

killed him.

Raymond DeLucca was one of 168 people to die of drug overdoses in New

Hampshire last year. That was more than the number killed in car crashes.

More than half the drug deaths involved methadone, and an alarming eight of

them happened in Laconia, a city of about 17,000.

"After about the fifth one, we had a meeting and said this is crazy," said

Police Chief Michael Moyer.

Nationwide, methadone deaths are increasing at a faster rate than any other

drug-related deaths, the National Center for Health Statistics reported in

February. According to the most recent data available, the number of

methadone deaths nationwide rose from 786 in 1999 to 4,462 in 2005, a nearly

six-fold increase. By comparison, fatal cocaine overdoses rose 63 percent,

from 3,832 to 6,228.

Though it is best known as a prescription drug that curbs heroin addiction,

methadone has been increasingly prescribed as a pain medication, and

officials say it is those pills that have led to the increase in deaths.

In the many cases, the drug is being stolen in transit between manufacturers

and pharmacies. Also, patients with methadone prescriptions are selling or

sharing their pills.

In some states, including Maine and New Hampshire, methadone has become the

leading cause of drug-related deaths, overtaking even cocaine and heroin.

That is prompting some police and prosecutors to get tough.

In Vermont, a woman was charged last month with giving methadone to a friend

who slipped into a coma and died. In New Hampshire, four people have been

charged in connection with DeLucca's death, and a task force is

investigating Laconia's seven other deaths in hopes of bringing charges.

"In past years on an overdose death, no, we would not usually have done a

really thorough investigation," Moyer said. "Now we treat it more like a

crime scene when we go to one of these."

Gail DeLucca said she realizes that her son wasn't blameless _ she knew he

had a drug problem _ but she wants the others involved to be held

accountable. The methadone that killed him was obtained illegally from a

friend who had bought it from a local couple, she said.

"It was a bad choice, and he paid for it with his life," she said. But "the

other people made a bad choice in selling it, and now it's their turn to pay

for what they did."

Though methadone isn't the leading cause of drug deaths in Vermont _ the

painkiller oxycodone, often sold under the brand name OxyContin, holds that

distinction _ nearly three-quarters of the 80 drug-related deaths last year

involved the class of drug to which both oxycodone and methadone belong.

The problem isn't limited to the northern New England _ Utah, Kentucky and

Washington, for example, had similar methadone death rates _ and experts say

there is nothing particular to the Northeast that is contributing to the

trend.

"We are simply at a point in time where in New England and the Eastern

Seaboard, methadone is the drug with `street cred' right now, whereas

methamphetamine leads the pack elsewhere," said Dr. Thomas Andrew, New

Hampshire's medical examiner.

Methadone is cheaper than other prescribed painkillers and is easily

diverted to the black market.

Though methadone does not itself produce a high, it is often combined with

other drugs in hopes of creating one. But for someone who has a low

tolerance, even low doses can be dangerous. Methadone is particularly

hazardous because of the slow way in which it is metabolized.

"It takes a while for its action to be perceived by the patient, and in this

age of instant gratification _ `Hey, I still hurt' _ they grab a second one

or even a third one, and by the time everything kicks in, they wake up

dead," Andrew said.

The medical examiner is pushing for electronic prescription monitoring to

prevent people from getting multiple methadone prescriptions from different

doctors and pharmacies.

About 30 states have such programs, including Maine and Vermont, but New

Hampshire rejected the idea three times recently. Opponents consider it an

invasion of privacy and an invitation for police fishing expeditions.

In Laconia, the police chief's task force is focusing on educating

schoolchildren and other members of the public about methadone, displaying a

big "Eight Is Enough" banner with pictures of some of the victims. No one

has died of a methadone overdose in the city since DeLucca in October.

"I think a lot of people are now afraid to use it," Moyer said. "That's what

I'm hoping, anyway. Or certainly they'll think twice about taking too much.

if any at all."

At the time of his death, DeLucca was working two jobs and studying to get

his high school equivalency degree in hopes of joining the National Guard.

Gail DeLucca said she would like to see his picture displayed at the

convenience stores where young people buy beer before heading out to party.

The message: "Think about this before you decide what you're going to do

tonight, before you make your bad decision."

On Fri, 18 Apr 2008 07:29:38 -0400, "Patriot Games"

<Patriot@America.com> wrote:

>http://www.newsmax.com/us/methadone_deaths/2008/04/17/88833.html

>

>Methadone Deaths Are Rising in New England; Police Get Tough

>

>Thursday, April 17, 2008

And how is the right wing making our society a better, sanner and

happier place to live where people wouldn't feel compelled to waste

themselves on drugs? Your answer here:

__________________________________________________.

"A Texan from Connecticut" <ultimauw@hotmail.com> wrote in message

news:48088e5e.13362439@news-server.ca.rr.com...

> On Fri, 18 Apr 2008 07:29:38 -0400, "Patriot Games"

> <Patriot@America.com> wrote:

>>http://www.newsmax.com/us/methadone_deaths/2008/04/17/88833.html

>>Methadone Deaths Are Rising in New England; Police Get Tough

>>Thursday, April 17, 2008

> And how is the right wing making our society a better, sanner and

> happier place to live where people wouldn't feel compelled to waste

> themselves on drugs? Your answer here:

> __________________________________________________.

There is no such thing as people feeling "compelled to waste themselves on

drugs."

Lack of family values, lack of religion in the nuclear family, lack of

discipline, lack of morals, lack of self-respect and dignity, abject

laziness and a legacy of entitlement thinking CAUSED BY DEMOCRATS leads

weak-minded and weak-willed people to their self-loathing destruction.

If you have self-respect, honor and dignity in your life you would

NEVER-EVER even experiment with drugs.

On Apr 18, 1:41 pm, "Patriot Games" <Patr...@America.com> wrote:

> "A Texan from Connecticut" <ultim...@hotmail.com> wrote in messagenews:48088e5e.13362439@news-server.ca.rr.com...

>

> > On Fri, 18 Apr 2008 07:29:38 -0400, "Patriot Games"

> > <Patr...@America.com> wrote:

> >>http://www.newsmax.com/us/methadone_deaths/2008/04/17/88833.html

> >>Methadone Deaths Are Rising in New England; Police Get Tough

> >>Thursday, April 17, 2008

> > And how is the right wing making our society a better, sanner and

> > happier place to live where people wouldn't feel compelled to waste

> > themselves on drugs? Your answer here:

> > __________________________________________________.

>

> There is no such thing as people feeling "compelled to waste themselves on

> drugs."

>

> Lack of family values,

What are "famuily values"? Kicking your own kid out to the streets

for being an "abomination"? Being a fascist totalitarian? Please

enlighten us.

> lack of religion in the nuclear family, lack of

> discipline, lack of morals,

True, but society also sets a very good(bad) example for them. The

right wing seems to embrace corruption and money making-fuck-everybody-

else, but when they are abvout to be question, they put on a phoney

piety act.

> lack of self-respect and dignity, abject

> laziness and a legacy of entitlement thinking CAUSED BY DEMOCRATS leads

> weak-minded and weak-willed people to their self-loathing destruction.

cough corporate welfare cough sickingly huge ceo salaries ehermm that

neo-cons support wholeheartedly aheeeem

>

> If you have self-respect, honor and dignity in your life you would

> NEVER-EVER even experiment with drugs.

<ultimauw@hotmail.com> wrote in message

news:7d381cb0-5525-4d16-a90c-166711d67c67@n1g2000prb.googlegroups.com...

> On Apr 18, 1:41 pm, "Patriot Games" <Patr...@America.com> wrote:

>> "A Texan from Connecticut" <ultim...@hotmail.com> wrote in

>> messagenews:48088e5e.13362439@news-server.ca.rr.com...

>> > On Fri, 18 Apr 2008 07:29:38 -0400, "Patriot Games"

>> > <Patr...@America.com> wrote:

>> >>http://www.newsmax.com/us/methadone_deaths/2008/04/17/88833.html

>> >>Methadone Deaths Are Rising in New England; Police Get Tough

>> >>Thursday, April 17, 2008

>> > And how is the right wing making our society a better, sanner and

>> > happier place to live where people wouldn't feel compelled to waste

>> > themselves on drugs? Your answer here:

>> > __________________________________________________.

>> There is no such thing as people feeling "compelled to waste themselves

>> on

>> drugs."

>> Lack of family values,

> What are "famuily values"? Kicking your own kid out to the streets

> for being an "abomination"? Being a fascist totalitarian? Please

> enlighten us.

Definitions of 'family values' - The American Heritage