The Roanoke Times Send This Story To A Friend. On Tuesday, a special grand jury charged 65 people with more than 180 drug violations, wrapping up the biggest portion of the joint investigation for the Wythe County Sheriff's Office, Wytheville Police Department, Virginia State Police, the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. Although only 12 percent of the people charged were caught distributing OxyContin and oxycodone, the active ingredient in OxyContin, Sheriff Kermit Osborne said it signals that Wythe County has joined a growing number of areas where abuse of the narcotic painkiller is becoming the norm.
Users crush the tablets for a heroin-like high.
It's getting popular, but if people only knew. Other drugs seized during the operation include marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, LSD and methadone. There have been 39 fatal overdoses attributed to oxycodone in Southwest Virginia since 1997. Last month, Attorney General Mark Earley drew heavily from the western tip of the state to appoint a task force on prescription drug abuse. The group is charged with finding ways to curb abuse of prescription drugs, particularly OxyContin.