Addictive Substances

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Oxycontin is a prescription painkiller that's available throughout the United States that requires a prescription and is prescribed for treating moderate to severe pain. OxyContin is the brand name for the narcotic oxycodone hydrochloride and is abused by many people because the euphoric effects are very similar to the effects a person experiences when they use heroin.

Oxycontin is designed to release slowly when treating patients who need a continuous management for pain for any length of time. When users crush these timed released painkillers into powder form with the intention of snorting oxycontin or combining the powder with liquid for injecting, high potent levels are abused. Some people chew oxycontin when they want to experience a euphoric rush, but no matter how oxycontin is misused the dangers are serious and can lead to overdose and death.

Tolerance is a risk the individual takes when misusing oxycontin because their body gets use to the medications over time and the user has to increase their dose to achieve the same effects. When a person uses or misuses oxycontin for very long they risk becoming physically dependent and addicted to the painkiller.

OxyContin Withdrawal Symptoms

Once a person becomes addicted to oxycontin if they stop using the narcotic pain pill all at once, they will experience withdrawal symptoms. These symptoms can include; pain in the bones and muscles, restlessness, sleeplessness, diarrhea, vomiting and nausea, cold flashes, and involuntary movements of the legs.

OxyContin Overdose

Oxycontin is very dangerous for a person who has never misused the drug before to get high. If they're unaware of just how potent the painkiller is when crushed, chewed, injected or swallowed in large quantities they could overdose very easily which can and has led to death.

Slang Street Names for OxyContin

Ocs, ox, oxy, 40, 80, blue, hillbilly heroin, kicker, and oxycotton.

Abuse of prescription pain medications like Oxycontin is very widespread and people in all age groups abuse the narcotic pain pill. Adolescents as young as 12 years old have admitted to using oxycontin as well as teens, young and older adults. The abuse of pain medications is a problem throughout the United States and thousands of people are in need of treatment in order to overcome their dependency. This is very unfortunate because at one time OxyContin was thought of as a miracle medication because when legitimately taken as prescribed a person suffering from chronic pain was able to function somewhat normally. Now today people abuse these pain medications just to get 'high'.

New FDA Approved Oxycontin Formula

On April 5, 2010 an FDA news release came out approving a new formula of the controlled released oxycontin which is designed to discourage people from misusing and abusing oxycontin. The previous formula of oxycontin when abused released very high levels of the medication at one time which could result in serious and fatal overdoses. There is an extreme euphoric rush because of the high levels which is why the abuse rate of oxycontin is so high.

This new formula of oxycontin prevents the opioid painkiller from being cut, broken, chewed, crushed or dissolved. This way the user won't be able to abuse higher levels of oxycontin at a time for the purpose of getting high when snorting or injecting the drug. Unfortunately the user can still ingest large doses of the painkiller at a time but progress is being made in the right direction because oxycontin is an extremely addictive and dangerous narcotic painkiller when misused.

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