A real eye-opener for anyone interested in seeing what's going on across the country in the world of prescription drugs is to type the drug's name into a major search engine, such as Google or Yahoo. Simply click on "News" about the drug, and scan the results. For the opioid pain killer OxyContin, today's listings were typical: pages and pages of gun-point drug-store robberies, arrests for possession and trafficking, sudden deaths, and people of all kinds needing treatment for prescription drug addiction.

Here are 8 of the first 10 search results for OxyContin, with my comments interspersed here and there:

1. Whitestown, NY: New England Patriots' offensive lineman Nicholas Kaczur paid $355 after pleading guilty to speeding, and court officials said his misdemeanor drug charge of possessing 202 OxyContin pills would be waived if he stays out of trouble and enters treatment for prescription drug addiction. Kaczur apparently helped the cops bust his pusher in a sting operation.

COMMENT: Many pro athletes with a prescription drug addiction become dependent, taking legitimate prescriptions to treat pain from sports injuries.

2. Edmonton, AB, Canada: City cops are looking for help identifying a fraud artist. On July 3 and July 10, a man went to the pharmacy . . . and used stolen and forged prescription forms to obtain pain killers on both occasions, police say. On his first visit, he got 180 OxyContin tablets. On a return trip, he made off with 200 tablets of Dilaudid -- morphine-derivative opioid pain killers.

COMMENT: Interestingly, Canada figured prominently in today's news. Prescription drug addiction to OxyContin knows no national boundaries.

3. London, ON, Canada: A variety store operator was busted after selling OxyContin to undercover police on three separate occasions. The cops found 400 OxyContin pills and over $4,000 stashed in the store. Prosecutors will seek jail time.

COMMENT: It takes a special kind of evil to push drugs that keep others enslaved by prescription drug addiction -- or any kind of drug addiction.

4. Sudbury, ON, Canada: And editorial in the Sudbury Star is headed, "The Perils of OxyContin" and discusses how an economic upturn in the nickel-mining capital of the country has meant extra cash for citizens, but the cash is fueling a soaring increase in drug-related crime, with charges related to illegal possession of pills such as OxyContin increasing by 70 per cent, leading the prescription drug addiction epidemic.

5. Columbus, OH: Police were searching for two men caught on camera robbing a CVS Pharmacy at gunpoint, demanding OxyContin from the pharmacist, police said. The men got several bottles of the drug, and are suspects in several other pharmacy robberies.

COMMENT: Possibly only drug dealers, but more likely addicts who also deal. Such addicts know the street value of OxyContin -- often $1 per milligram or more -- and serial robbers like these are certainly selling stolen pills to other addicts.

6. Fort Worth, TX: A pistol-toting gunman tried to rob a west-side pharmacy early Tuesday for the pain killer OxyContin, but police credit the actions of an employee for thwarting the robbery by attracting attention from others, causing the gunman to flee.

COMMENT: Another likely case of prescription drug addiction driving an addict to crime. Like addiction to heroin, cocaine and other illicit drugs, prescription drug addiction can cause loss of all perspective and a life of crime.

7. Ventura County, CA: A roundup in the Ventura County Star of prescription drug addiction and abuse throughout the region -- teenagers and young adults falling prey to drug abuse and prescription drug addiction. For example, 15-year-old Colin bought his first OxyContin pill from a man outside a liquor store when he was 14, got hooked, would buy the drugs or swipe prescription pain killers from his grandfather's medicine cabinet.

COMMENT: The same basic story we read every day from all over the country -- kids are stealing pills from parents and relatives and winding up in treatment for prescription drug addiction -- or dead.

8. Belmont, MA: Sen. Steven A. Tolman, D-Brighton, announced a new $5 million appropriation in the 2009 state budget for a pre-arraignment jail diversion program to treat those suffering from a dependency to OxyContin or heroin.

COMMENT: Need I say more?

There's no safe way to 'experiment' with OxyContin, the prescription drug that's worse than heroin. Everyone is metabolically different -- no two people process drugs the same way. So OxyContin won't warn you whether you are going to just get high, get a prescription drug addiction, or get killed. If you or someone you know has a problem of any kind with OxyContin or any pain killer, get them into a medical drug detox center for a full evaluation before it's too late.