🚀 go-pugleaf

I have posted this to some on topic (hopefully) groups to learn
more about this situation. I am somewhat ignorant about illegal
drug usage and would like a few questions answered, if anyone
wants to try and help. My questions are:

1. How powerful is Oxycontin? Is it as strong as Heroin?

2. Is this drug still commonly prescribed by physicians -- or has
all the bad publicity steered the doctors away from using it?

3. Is it difficult "getting off" the drug if you become addicted?

4. Could Rush Limbaugh conduct a daily radio show if he was
heavily addicted to this drug?

5. I have read various reports over the past year, that Oxycontin
was 1st widely misused by people in the Appalachian states. Is this
true? If so, any reasons why?

Thanks for any input.

		Chad

Florida Drug Probe Leads to Limbaugh 

By Jennifer Frey
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 3, 2003; Page C08 

As Rush Limbaugh confronted one self-described "tempest in a 
teapot" during a speech in Philadelphia, a second, potentially 
more damaging controversy involving the popular conservative 
radio talk-show host unspooled yesterday as media outlets 
chased reports that Limbaugh is linked to a drug investigation 
in Florida. 

The National Enquirer alleged in yesterday's editions that 
Limbaugh is addicted to painkillers, and reported that his 
purchase of those drugs has led to his involvement in a major 
drug-ring investigation in Palm Beach County, where he has his 
primary home. The supermarket tabloid cited as its main source 
one Wilma Cline, a former housekeeper for Limbaugh who says 
she supplied the drugs -- hydrocodone and OxyContin -- to 
Limbaugh, and later turned him in to county authorities.

The New York Daily News, which had obtained an advance copy 
of the Enquirer article, reported yesterday that it had 
independently confirmed the investigation by the Palm Beach 
County state attorney's office and Limbaugh's link to it. 
Other news organizations -- including the Associated Press, 
Reuters and CNN -- followed with anonymously sourced 
confirmations later in the day.

The frenzy resulted in a deluge of calls for Mark Edmondson, 
a spokesman for the state attorney's office, who repeatedly 
told news organizations that "the office would neither confirm 
nor deny any case that we may have under review." Limbaugh's 
only comment on the allegations -- which he did not address
during his morning speech at the National Association of 
Broadcasters convention -- came in the form of a statement 
released by Premiere Radio Networks, which syndicates his radio 
show.

"I am unaware of any investigation by any authority involving 
me," the statement read. "No government representative has 
contacted me directly or indirectly. If my assistance is 
required, I will, of course, cooperate fully."

CNN reported that sources told the network that Limbaugh 
"is not the focus of the investigation," but rather that 
his name had come up as a buyer during a "two-year probe of
a suspected multimillion-dollar black market operation."
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37514-2003Oct2.html