Illicit Prescribing in Florida Suffers Welcome Setbacks but the Problem Just Moves to New States

It used to be that Florida had the reputation as the country’s leading “pill mill” state. That means that it was the place to go if you wanted a large quantity of addictive pain medication to abuse or sell. But after years of debate and planning, state lawmakers have finally enacted laws with enough teeth to put many of the state’s rogue pain clinics out of business.

A year or so ago, the Drug Enforcement Administration(DEA) was able to confirm that 90 out of the top 100 oxycodone (the active ingredient in OxyContin pain pills) purchasing doctors in the US were in Florida. Then in the summer of 2011, laws were enacted in Florida that established new regulations for pain management clinics and forbade the dispensing of medication on site. On-site dispensaries enabled pain management clinics to make much more money and mask the drug purchasing habits of their patients. Now, once a pain medication prescription is written, the scrip must be filled at a legitimate pharmacy where purchasing habits can be tracked.

As a result of these changes in the law, oxycodone purchases by Florida doctors decreased 97% between 2010 and 2011. At the same time, oxycodone purchases by pharmacies only increased slightly in the first quarter of 2011 and then fell after that. If all those oxycodone prescriptions had been legitimate, there would have been a big rush of pharmacy purchases of oxycodone to keep up with the shifting demand.

So how much will these changes improve the overall situation of opioid abuse and addiction? Probably not much.

Based on the newest records of drug sales, the DEA reports that oxycodone purchases by doctors in Tennessee, Georgia and Kentucky are now on the increase. For years, Tennessee and Kentucky have been hotbeds of illicit opioid sales and abuse. Now, 21 of the top 100 oxycodone-purchasing doctors are in Georgia and another 11 are in Tennessee.

This is the usual pattern when law enforcement changes are made to reduce drug abuse and addiction. The squeeze is put on drug purchasing or consumption in one area only to cause there to be a “bulge” in that purchasing and consumption elsewhere, as though one were squeezing a large, inflated balloon.

The Real Solution to Opioid Abuse and Addiction

For the moment, anti-drug legislation and law enforcement actions are necessary to minimize the damage that can be done by unscrupulous doctors or drug dealers. But the real solution lies in preventing drug abuse from starting by educating the young, and by rehabilitating those who have become trapped in addiction. Narconon Arrowhead contributes to these solutions every day from its long-term residential rehabilitation and education center in Oklahoma.

The Narconon drug prevention curriculum has been proven to reduce substance abuse among students receiving it. Narconon staff and volunteers fan out over Oklahoma and adjoining states to address classes, clubs and civic groups with their anti-drug message. And the Narconon rehabilitation facility just north of McAlester, Oklahoma helps as many as 200 people at a time recover from addiction.

The long-term, holistic program at Narconon Arrowhead uses no substitute drugs as part of its treatment. Instead, each person is helped to repair the damage to body, mind and spirit and then learn the life skills that will keep them drug free after graduation. Seven out of ten of those completing this program and going home live clean and sober lives, one of the best success rates in this field.

Find out how Narconon Arrowhead can help someone you care about with a successful drug rehab program. Call 1-800-468-6833 today.

References:

http://www.justice.gov/dea/pubs/states/newsrel/2012/mia013012.html
http://www2.tbo.com/news/breaking-news/2011/aug/09/1/pain-physicians-say-new-laws-could-eliminate-pill--ar-249190/
http://www.justice.gov/ndic/dmas/Appalachia_DMA-2011(U).pdf
http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1747-597X-3-8.pdf