Prescription opioid analgesics are the most commonly abused prescription medication. Further, these drugs are more frequently abused than heroin. Researchers in this study interviewed 586 street drug users in New York City to determine patterns of prescription opioid use for pain, misuse for euphoria, and sales (diversion).

• Seventy-two percent of subjects used methadone, and 65% sold it.
• Methadone was used and sold by more individuals than was OxyContin, Vicodin, or Percocet.
• Fifty-eight percent of prescription drug users obtained prescription opioids for pain, withdrawal, or euphoria (which they used and/or sold) from doctors; 42% obtained them from dealers.
• Of subjects who reported using OxyContin they obtained from physicians, 83% reported having used the drug primarily for pain; 50% used it primarily to prevent opioid withdrawal symptoms, and 38% used it primarily for euphoria.
• Prescription drug users were less likely to obtain prescription opioids for euphoria than for pain. When they obtained prescription opioids for euphoria, they usually did so from dealers.

Comments by Tommie Ann Bower, MA
The interplay of legitimate need for pain medications, addiction, and sale of medications is explored in this study. While diversion is not surprising, the study underscores the difficulty of sorting out legitimate needs for pain medication in chronic and aging users. It reminds providers to consider chronic pain as an element of a treatment plan and to collaborate with physicians whenever possible.