Opana Street Prices & Prescription Costs In Ohio
Medically Reviewed By: Manish Mishra, MBBS
Written by: Dr Jason Martin Psy.D., LCPC
Opana costs roughly $1 per mg on the street in Ohio. If you pay full price without insurance for an oxymorphone prescription, it’s still cheaper than buying it on the black market.
Opana is a brand name for oxymorphone, an opioid analgesic (painkiller) that treats moderate to severe acute or chronic pain. It’s one of the most commonly prescribed opioids in the United States. It’s also frequently abused, diverted from pharmacies, and available on the black market.
Opana Street Value In Ohio
The street value of Opana (oxymorphone) is $1 per mg, according to price data gathered by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). But it can be as high as $2 per mg.
Opana’s street value is comparable to other prescriptions like oxycodone (OxyContin, Percocet) and hydrocodone (Vicodin), but might be a little pricier.
Factors That Affect Opana Street Price In Ohio
Many factors can affect the street price of drugs, including location, quantity, purity, and formulation.
Location
In general, you can get Opana cheaper in places with more supply. A large city like Cleveland or Dayton may have more Opana on the street than a rural area.
Cities tend to have a bigger supply because there are more people to import and deal drugs. More people also means more prescriptions and pharmacies from which to divert Opana to sell on the black market.
Rural areas are more sparsely populated. They aren’t big targets for the drug trade because there isn’t a lot of money to be made. As a result, there is less illicit Opana available in these areas. Since the supply is lower, the cost tends to be higher.
However, location can play a different role in drug prices. Some people in rural areas charge more per sale because they don’t have as many customers or competition. City drug dealers have a large market and can afford to charge less or are forced to keep prices competitive.
Quantity Purchased
If you buy Opana one pill at a time, you’re going to pay a premium. Buying in bulk is a cheaper way to go.
Drug dealers who purchase hundreds of grams or a kilogram at a time pay less per mg than individuals who get a couple of grams. But a couple of grams often costs less than a single dose.
Purity Of Drugs
Dealers have to charge a price that makes them a profit. If they are charging too little, the Opana you’re getting probably isn’t authentic. It may be mixed and pressed in someone’s home lab, adulterated with laundry soap, talcum powder, or other drugs.
Drug Formulation
Opana comes in an immediate-release (IR) and an extended-release (ER) formulation.
Opana ER tends to cost less on the street than Opana IR. The ER version comes in higher doses because it’s meant to be taken once a day and gradually distributed through your body. But ER capsules are crush-resistant and have low potency, which lowers their desirability for drug abuse.
It’s difficult to find Opana ER on the black market because it was discontinued by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2017. Generic oxymorphone IR and ER formulations still exist.
Relationship With Dealer
If you buy street drugs from a friend or a regular customer, you may get a better deal. Many dealers charge as much as they can to first-time customers but decrease rates if you keep coming back.
As with any business, giving deals to loyal customers can help people in the black market retain a customer base.
Ohio Opana Prescription Cost
Generic oxymorphone costs between $500 and $600 at a pharmacy for 120 tablets (10 mg). At $1 per mg on the street, the cost would be $1200 for the same amount of Opana.
There are several options for reducing the prescription cost of Opana or generic oxymorphone if you get it legally.
If you have insurance, most providers will give a prescription discount so you pay a fraction of the cost. Government programs like Ohio Medicaid may pay the whole amount.
If you don’t have insurance, free prescription discount programs like GoodRx and SingleCare offer steep discount coupons at many large pharmacies, such as Giant Eagle, Rite Aid, and Meijer.
As of December 2022, GoodRx is offering a coupon for $73.95 instead of the $583 retail value for oxymorphone at Discount Drug Mart in Cleveland.
Opana Overdose Risk
You can overdose on Opana if you take more than your body can handle. Opioid overdose symptoms include blue skin and nails, extreme drowsiness, and loss of consciousness. An oxymorphone overdose can be fatal.
Opana overdose may occur if:
- you take Opana with other drugs, such as benzodiazepines, opiates, or alcohol
- you take more Opana than prescribed
- you wean off Opana then resume taking your previous dose
- you have a medical condition that makes it hard for your body to process Opana
If you or a loved one are using oxymorphone, it’s a good idea to have naloxone (Narcan) on hand. Naloxone is an opioid antagonist that blocks opioid receptors and temporarily reverses overdose symptoms. In many cases, this has kept someone alive until medical help arrived.
Opana (Oxymorphone) Abuse In Ohio
The safest way to take oxymorphone is to follow your prescription and get the drug from a licensed pharmacy. Taking more Opana than prescribed or using it without a prescription is abuse that can lead to addiction.
While Opana abuse begins by relieving pain it can make you more sensitive to pain in the long run. Opioid addiction changes your brain structure so you crave the drugs and can’t get enough.
To help curb Opana (oxymorphone) addiction in Ohio, the state established a prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) called Ohio Auto Rx Reporting System (OARRS). Drug wholesalers, doctors, and pharmacists report opioid prescriptions to avoid overprescribing.
This practice also helps prevent doctor shopping—individuals receiving the same prescription from different doctors. Unfortunately, some prescription opioids like Opana slip through the cracks.
Opana Addiction Treatment
If you’re looking into buying Opana on the street, think again. Now is the time to ask for help with opioid abuse instead. Many addiction treatment programs are available in Ohio, including personalized opioid rehab at Ohio Recovery Center.
Some Opana treatment centers offer medication-assisted treatment (MAT), which combines medication and therapy to help you focus on recovery.
Medications like methadone and buprenorphine reduce withdrawal symptoms and cravings without producing the euphoria that makes opioids so addictive. Behavioral therapy is an essential part of recovery that improves your coping skills and mental health.
You’ll learn to replace substance abuse with healthy behaviors that free you from addiction. Contact an Ohio Recovery Center specialist to learn more and start your recovery today.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — Prescription Opioids: The Basics https://www.cdc.gov/rxawareness/information/index.html
- Drug Enforcement Administration — Oxymorphone https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_chem_info/oxymorphone.pdf
- GoodRx — Generic Opana https://www.goodrx.com/opana
- National Library of Medicine — Scoring the best deal: Quantity discounts and street price variation of diverted oxycodone and oxymorphone https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29766592/
- OARRS — About: What is OARRS? https://www.ohiopmp.gov/About