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Prescription Drug Overdoses Reach 2,000 in Montana

The Montana Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation cited that more than 2,000 people died from prescription drug overdoses in Montana between 2001 and 2008. Their were 321 recorded deaths from prescription drugs statewide in 2008 with more than 200 of them involving narcotic painkiller overdoses.

Mark Long, chief of the DCI narcotics bureau said, "Hydrocodone, Oxycodone, Methadone and Fentanyl are the four most commonly abused prescription painkillers." OxyContin has become a target for abusers because of the larger amounts of the active ingredient in relation to other previous oxycodone products and the ability of abusers to easily compromise the controlled release formulation. Simply crushing the tablet can negate the timed effect of the drug, enabling abusers to swallow, inhale, or inject the drug, which is water soluble, for a powerful morphine-like high.

Jim Hutchinson, a toxicologist with the Montana state crime lab said "Anti-depressants, sleeping pills and combinations of drugs and alcohol - were also responsible for many of the deaths tallied by the state crime lab.

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