Getting Off the “Oxy Express”

Getting Off the “Oxy Express”: Why Florida Is America’s Prescription Drug Abuse Capital

They call it the “Oxy Express,” but most people know it as I-75, the Florida artery that has become the route of a pilgrimage for prescription drug addicts and their suppliers from all over the United States. Road trips to Florida have always been an East Coast tradition, but in recent years their destination hasn’t been Florida’s sandy beaches but the hundreds of “pain clinics” that dot its strip malls. Drug seekers simply walk in, wait for a quick consultation with a doctor, claim to be in pain, and walk out with a prescription for hardcore painkillers like Oxycontin (the brand name for oxycodone), the most-abused prescription painkiller on the market. Unlike other states, Florida doesn’t have a system in place for cross-checking prescriptions, which means that there’s no way to stop addicts from going from clinic to clinic and filling prescription after prescription.The state legislature passed a bill in 2011 to put such a system in place, but Governor Scott blocked the funding for it, calling it an invasion of privacy. The upshot of all this is that Florida is the epicenter of America’s prescription painkiller addiction. That’s why it was surprising, but not shocking, when the DEA announced that it would ban two Sanford, Florida, CVS pharmacies from dispensing controlled substances, including Oxycontin. The legal action also targeted a wholesale pill distributor called Capital Health, though a federal judge granted that company a temporary injunction preventing the enforcement of the ban. The pharmacies were dispensing approximately three million pills a year, forty-three times more than the national average of 69,000 pills.

Getting Clean and Staying Clean from “Oxy Express”

Millions of Americans—and perhaps millions of Floridians—are suffering in the grip of Oxycontin addiction and prescription painkiller addiction. If you’re one of them, Archstone Recovery Center of the Palm Beaches is here to help you. We’ve treated thousands of prescription drug addicts at our top-rated, fully accredited, state-of-the-art drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility in Lantana, Florida. Whether you’re addicted to Oxycontin, Percocet, Xanax, Valium, Adderall, or another prescription drug, we have flexible, customizable treatment options that will provide the care you need to survive withdrawal, relearn your habits and attitudes, get clean, and stay clean. Resident of Arkansas, Tennessee, South Carolina or Georgia? No problem. Archstone Recovery treats those from all over. Call today to start your Oxycontin rehabilitation or prescription drug rehabilitation in Florida. You’ll be glad you did.