So before the users begin trying to replace OxyContin and Oxycodone with heroin, the county wants people to know they can get treatment, sometimes for free or at a reduced rate.

"If they become addicted to prescription drugs, we in Salt Lake County stand ready to help," said County Mayor Peter Corroon at a news conference Friday. "People can recover."

The county is publicizing its support services because of the May 16 arrest of Warren Stack, a Murray doctor who is suspected of prescribing up to 5 million doses of painkillers that may have then been illegally sold throughout the Salt Lake Valley.

Though prosecutors were still reviewing possible criminal charges, the Utah Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing on Friday suspended Stack's licenses to practice medicine and prescribe drugs, according to division spokeswoman Jennifer Bolton.

The county has ratcheted up its group support services, offered Monday through Saturday in Salt Lake City, to meet what they expect will be high demand. One of the county's contract treatment centers received 21 calls Thursday, up to four times more than usual, from people who fear they may be addicted to OxyContin.

District Attorney Lohra Miller said the Stack arrest, combined with Utah's already high rate of prescription-drug abuse, could lead to more crime. Anecdotally, police have noticed more pharmacy robberies and prescription drug thefts from homes, though they aren't connecting it to the Stack arrest. Miller hopes to soon quantify the increase in crime.

"We're concerned," she said. "A person addicted to pain medication . . . may turn to heroin."

Pat Fleming, director of the county's substance abuse division, assured the addicted that if they seek treatment, the county would not divulge their names to prosecutors - or anyone.

"We don't want to have them come in and [police] try to arrest them," he said.

While the county will strive to help addicted patients, it does not have the capacity to help everybody who struggles with drug abuse.

Corroon said he may have to dip into the county's savings if there is a major influx in patients.

Fleming said the county serves about 8,000 people a year, but 40,000 need services for all types of substance abuse. The waiting list for residential services - in which patients live at a home for up to 90 days - can be three months long. It can take up to two weeks to get out-patient treatment.

He blames policies that consider substance abuse a social problem - which means taxpayers must cover treatment - instead of a health problem covered by insurance and on par with medical conditions.

hmay@sltrib.com

Help for drug addiction

Salt Lake County and the University of Utah have joined to offer interim group support classes that will help patients know if they have a substance abuse problem and will refer them to treatment centers if they do.

The one-hour meetings are held at Trolley Corners, 515 S. 700 East, Suite 3Q, Monday through Saturday. For more information, call 801-532-1850. The meetings are free, though there is a fee for dependence assessment.