Pubdate: Thu, 04 Aug 2005
Source: Courier-Journal, The (KY)
Copyright: 2005 The Courier-Journal
Contact:  http://www.courier-journal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/97
Note: Only publishes local LTEs
Authors: Alan Maimon, and Elisabeth J. Beardsley
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone)

WEB DRUGS SEIZED UNDER NEW LAW FLORIDA PHARMACY FAILED TO REGISTER

Enforcing a new Internet drug law for the first time, the Kentucky Bureau 
of Investigation has seized packages containing 10,000 painkiller pills at 
a FedEx center in Lexington.

The hydrocodone pills -- with an estimated street value of more than 
$100,000 -- came from a Florida Internet pharmacy that is unlicensed in 
Kentucky, Attorney General Greg Stumbo said yesterday.

"These drugs would have been sold on our streets," said Stumbo, whose 
office directs the KBI. "Addicts would have been crushing them, snorting 
them, or dissolving them in water and injecting them like heroin."

The pills, seized this week, were headed to homes and other package centers 
across Kentucky, all for cash on delivery, he said. Stumbo declined to 
identify the Internet pharmacy, citing the ongoing investigation, but he 
said Florida authorities are involved in the case.

No charges have been filed.

Stumbo said the seized drugs were "probably not more than one or two days' 
worth of shipments. So if you magnify that over the scope of Kentucky, 
literally, we don't know how many billions of dollars worth of these drugs 
come in."

But the new law allowing authorities to seize such shipments has a 
"chilling effect ... that the pharmacy lost a sale and lost the value of 
the drugs," he said.

Stumbo said people who ordered the drugs without a valid prescription could 
be charged.

But Stumbo spokeswoman Vicki Glass said the investigation will focus more 
on the drug supplier than on intended recipients.

"Elimination of one distributor stops hundreds of shipments across 
Kentucky," she said.

The law that took effect last month allows Kentucky to prosecute Internet 
pharmacies based in other states that ship drugs into Kentucky without 
registering with the state Board of Pharmacy. They also are required to 
report to the state's prescription-monitoring program.

Since the law took effect, Stumbo said, some unlicensed Internet pharmacies 
refuse to ship to Kentucky out of fear of prosecution. Charges carry up to 
20 years in prison.

Glass said the Web sites of some pharmacies have begun blocking orders to 
Kentucky.

According to Stumbo, a tip from employees at the Lexington FedEx center 
sparked the investigation.

In one instance, he said, employees told KBI agents that a woman who came 
to pick up a package containing Lortab said the medicine was for her 
3-year-old daughter.

In another instance, center sorters became suspicious about packages that 
lacked a label indicating the shipper was registered with the state, Stumbo 
said.

"Just imagine if a 3-year-old is named in the order of illegal drugs that 
come into our state by her pregnant and addicted mother," Stumbo said. 
"That's the reality of drug abuse in this state."

Sandra Munoz, a FedEx spokeswoman, said the company is cooperating with 
investigations of illegal drug shipments.

"We don't tolerate the use of our global system for illegal activities," 
she said.

Sidebar

HYDROCODONE

A highly addictive painkiller, hydrocodone is the most commonly abused 
prescription drug in Kentucky, according to the attorney general's office. 
Here is some information about the drug:

Most frequently prescribed opiate in the United States, with more than 110 
million prescriptions dispensed in the nation in 2003.

Kentucky ranks third nationally in per-capita use.

Kentucky consumption per person is twice the national average.

A 20- to 40-year-old female is the most likely abuser.

Source: Kentucky attorney general's office
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom