OxyContin painkillers have been used for many years and have been beneficial to many. But the one that has recently gained traction on the market has been the subject of many controversial discussions. Oxycodone has always been used in modern medicine but in small quantities. OxyContin contained a greater amount of oxycodone than most opiate-based painkillers, the weakest dose of OxyContin having double the amount found in said painkillers (Meier 12). This has led to the spread of drug abuse and addiction. And a medicine created only to help has become the subject of overdoses and death. The creation of OxyContin was a triumph for modern medicine and a halo of light for people with chronic pain, but this drug now appears to bring with it a trail of addiction and abuse. Sure, opioid-based painkillers like OxyContin have been invented and used for centuries. It was Hippocrates who first used opioids as a form of medicine. He used opium to stop the pain of internal diseases, such as "women's diseases" (Blachford and Krapp). But as time went on chemists were able to actually separate and isolate more compounds from the opium plant, such as the chemical Thebaine, the main substance used to make oxycodone (Meier 57). Oxycodone is the chemical in OxyContin that gives it pain-relieving effects, it was developed in Germany around 1916 and they labeled it under the name Eukodal (Blachford and Krapp). From there, the FDA first approved the use of oxycodone in 1976 (Blachford and Krapp). Then in 1996 a drug manufacturer named Purdue Frederick began selling oxycodone under the brand name OxyContin, to sell the drug he opened a special unit known as Purdue Pharma (Meier 12). After release in 1996, it became very solid... middle of paper... less, OxyContin's intended purpose was to do nothing more than help people stop suffering from pain. It can relieve the pain of many people and was preferred because it was derived from opium. The only problem is that it is more addictive and has more side effects than anyone could have imagined. However, it wasn't an innovation in the way people thought it would be. The drug has caused many different side effects and addiction-related overdoses. In all honesty and in my opinion, I think the chemical oxycodone is safe in small doses, but if this painkiller is OxyContin then nothing but trouble will surely ensue. The drug was created for good, but evil has outweighed this by a million to one. The creation of OxyContin was a triumph for modern medicine and a halo of light for people with chronic pain, but this drug now appears to bring with it a trail of addiction and abuse