I-Team: Fighting OxyContin on the street

Law enforcement agents say the most popular drug on the street is one you might find in a medicine cabinet.

“The primary threat we see for a diverted prescription med on the street is OxyContin,“ said Brian Crowell of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

OxyContin and other opiates found in medicine cabinets are becoming a menace on the streets.

Crowell, who oversees Rhode Island, said OxyContin addiction is an expensive habit and that the drug sells for about $80 a pill. Once someone is hooked on OxyContin, they find they can’t afford it so they get hooked on heroin, a cheaper alternative.

“Oxys are the primary threat,“ Crowell said. “They are street drugs. They do have street credibility. You can go to a dealer and say, ‘Do you have Oxys?‘“

New Bedford gang and drug officers battle drug dealing on the streets. Officers said many addicts have to sell themselves to get their fix.

“We see a lot of prostitution to support the drug habit,“ said Sgt. Scot Carola of the New Bedford Police Department.

But where do the drugs that make their way to the streets here in New Bedford come from? How do they get here?

“The main pipeline in New England is New York,“ said Col. Steve O’Donnell. “We see cannabis, marijuana, cocaine and most of it comes across the Mexican border.“

However, OxyContin and other opiates flooding the streets are coming right from home.

“The prescription pain meds, the initial users basically get it out of medicine cabinets. Eighty percent get it to them by a friend or family member or it’s sold to them from a friend,“ Crowell said.

Related Story
Part 2: I-Team: Fighting OxyContin addiction