OxyContin use on a rural midwest American Indian reservation: demographic correlates and reasons for using.

In 2009 we surveyed 400 tribal members of a midwestern American Indian reservation to assess the prevalence of OxyContin use. Thirty percent of tribal participants reported nonmedical use of OxyContin ever, 18.9% in the past year, and 13.4% in the past month. Participants aged 18 to 25 years were most likely to have used OxyContin. Reasons given for use of the drug included pain relief (59.3%) and getting high (52.2%), indicating a need for opioid treatment programs.