Everyone please read this!

I am sure that most of you know that a little over a year ago I was held at gunpoint twice. Both incidents were a desperate attempt by the gunmen to obtain Oxycontin. As a result, I had to quit my job, get a lot of mental help through counseling and i'm still not the same. It truly changed my life. My father is really good friends with a family that lost their son to this drug. They have put together a petition that anyone can sign in hopes of getting this drug taken off the market. Their letter reads:

Dear Family and Friends,

We are writing to you and asking for your help to stop a killer before it claims more innocent lives.

Since Oxycontin was approved in 1995 hundreds of thousands (and likely many more) of lives have been destroyed and lost due to this drug. Many of these people were prescribed this drug by their doctors to treat moderate to severe pain. Others, believing the drug was safe because it is FDA approved and prescribed by doctors, use it for non-medical reasons. The results are the same, addiction, overdose, heroin use (heroin is the pharmaceutical cousin to Oxycontin and they are interchangeable) and death. NO ONE is immune from this monster invading their lives! It does not discriminate and crosses all socio-economic, religious and age barriers.

As many of you know, our family has experienced first hand the devastating effects of this drug. Our son (and brother) Josh was prescribed Oxycontin by his doctor on April 13, 2004 for two herniated discs in his back. Four days later he overdosed for the very first time. From that point forward Josh plunged head first into the grips of this "poison pill" that wouldn't let go of him no matter how hard he tried. On this first overdose the nurse in the emergency room was so angry that any doctor would prescribe this type of drug to a 22 year old for back pain. She said that this doctor almost ended his life before it had a chance to begin. How prophetic her words turned out to be. Sadly, Josh lost his battle and passed away on September 30, 2006, one day after his 25th birthday from a lethal combination of prescription drugs - all prescribed to him. Our lives will never be the same!

As heartbreaking as Josh's loss is to us it is only one of thousands of stories that are playing out every single day in homes all across the nation. Prescription drug overdose deaths in many states claim more lives now than automobile accidents (Utah is one of those states). That is why we need your help now! We have a petition that is calling for a ban on Oxycontin. We are going back to D.C. the end of this month and want to take with us as many signatures as possible to prove to the FDA and Big Pharma that the American people are sick and tired of greed being placed above human lives.Please read the petition and sign it (it costs nothing even though it sends you to a donation page after you sign - just ignore that) and then send it on to everyone in your address book. We are also asking for anyone that has a MySpace, FaceBook or Twitter to post the petition there (our kids all know how to do this). We can all stand up and help end this plague that is sweeping through our nation.

Thank you all in advance for your help!

In memory of Joshua Sam Kresser 9/29/1981 ~ 9/30/2006
"May his memeory be eternal"
Layne, Sandra, Jake, Carrie, Amy and Alex Kresser

The link is http://www.banoxycontin.com/

This is a cause that is very important to me. Abuse of this drug changed my life even though I was not the one abusing it. This is the case for MANY people. Thanks for all your help!