Prescription drug abuse among prisoners in rural Southwestern Virginia.

Non-medical use of prescription medications is on the rise across the U.S., particularly in rural areas. In this study of 233 prisoners and probationers in southwestern Virginia, we add to an emerging profile of individuals abusing prescription medications. In this retrospective review of 2000-2004 augmented Addiction Severity Index data, those abusing prescription medications reported increased illicit drug and alcohol abuse, poly-drug abuse, psychiatric problems, and arrests for property crimes. Forty percent reported abuse of OxyContin, a drug implicated in a number of deaths in this region. Compared to non-users, OxyContin users were younger, more likely to be female, and more likely to abuse benzodiazepines, methadone, cocaine, and heroin. Longevity of abuse of these other drugs belies suggestions that OxyContin was acting as a "gateway" drug leading naïve users into addiction and risk of death.