The prescription drug problem of miners in Virginia is getting some attention in the press. And it should be: according to an article in The Breeze, “Individual deaths due to overdoses associated with prescription painkillers have risen 270 percent in the past decade, and in one county the rate of such fatal overdoses is 13 times that of counties in northern Virginia.” The number of deaths is alarming, and so is the number of people who will need drug detox and drug rehab to make sure they’re not the next one to go.

Another article written by Nick Miroff of the Washington Post said disability rates in coal mining towns such as Buchanan County (population 25,000) run as high as 37%

The real problems of prescription drug addiction are found in the increasing usage of methadone in Virginia: Retail sales moved from 30,000 grams in 1999 to 146,000 grams in 2006. Oxycodone sales have also tripled since 1999 and have now reached 747,000 grams - thanks to Purdue Pharma’s false claims that its product, OxyContin, was less addictive than other opiates. Most of the people addicted to OxyContin, and now methadone, will never get off it. But Purdue keeps ringing the cash register.

It is possible to go through a medical drug detox and then, if necessary, a drug rehab program, to get off of these drugs. But it isn’t easy, and it does take a commitment.
 
OxyContin is the gift that keeps on giving for Purdue. Wouldn’t it be great if they helped people (with money) to withdraw comfortably under medical supervision from these drugs and then, when needed, get some of these miners to through a Virginia drug rehab program?

Popularity: 5% [?]