MASON — A Mason man was arrested Tuesday for selling OxyContin.

Marco Joe Pickenpaugh, 26, was taken into custody by Senior Trooper J.K. Cox and Sgt. E.B. Starcher of the Mason County Detachment of the West Virginia State Police on two counts of delivery of a controlled substance.

Starcher said the arrest is a result of an intense investigation by the detachment that has been ongoing for several months.

Pickenpaugh was taken before Mason County Magistrate Cheryl Ross, who set bond at $50,000.

According to www.drugs.com, OxyContin is in a group of drugs called narcotic pain relievers. It is similar to morphine, which is used to treat moderate to severe pain.

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the prescription painkiller is used for moderate to high pain relief associated with injuries, bursitis, dislocations, fractures, neuralgia, arthritis, lower back pain and pain associated with cancer. OxyContin contains oxycodone, the medication’s active ingredient, in a timed-release tablet. Oxycodone products have been illicitly abused for the past 30 years.

It is a schedule II narcotic analgesic and is widely used in clinical medicine. It is marketed either alone as controlled release (OxyContin) and immediate release formulations (OxyIR, OxyFast) or in combination with other non-narcotic analgesics such as aspirin (Percodan) or acetaminophen (Percocet). The introduction in 1996 of OxyContin, commonly known on the street as OC, OX, Oxy, Oxycotton, Hillbilly heroin and kicker, led to a marked escalation of its abuse as reported by drug abuse treatment centers, law enforcement personnel and health care professionals.

Pickenpaugh was taken to the Western Regional Jail in Barboursville.