Pubdate: Sun, 28 Feb 2010
Source: Tallahassee Democrat (FL)
Copyright: 2010 Tallahassee Democrat
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/hdEs6Z0o
Website: http://www.tallahassee.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/444
Author: Jeff Kottkamp

SHUT DOWN THE PILL MILLS

As lieutenant governor of Florida, I oversee the Governor's Office of Drug 
Control. Together with the Statewide Drug Policy Advisory Council, we use a 
three-pronged statewide strategy of prevention, treatment and law 
enforcement to limit the devastation in Florida's families and communities 
caused by substance abuse.

Sheriffs and law enforcement officers I have met throughout the state 
emphasize the need to reduce illicit drug activity by cutting off the 
supply of illegal drugs, including legal prescription drugs used for 
illegal purposes. An average of six Floridians die each day from a 
prescription drug overdose -- five times as many deaths as from all illegal 
drugs combined. In fact, the number of drug overdose deaths in Florida 
increased by 77 percent from 2003 to 2008, and each one involved at least 
one prescription drug.

Often the illegal prescription drug of choice is oxycodone, a very strong 
narcotic commonly prescribed to relieve moderate to severe pain. Nearly all 
of the top 50 prescribers of oxycodone in the United States are located in 
Florida.

At the heart of this scourge are so-called "pill mills," which are often 
advertised as "pain clinics." However, pill mills also can be doctors' 
offices, clinics or health care facilities that routinely conspire in 
prescribing and dispensing controlled substances outside the scope of 
standard medical practice, or otherwise violate prescription-drug laws.

These so-called pain clinics have sprung up at alarming rates. Every three 
days, a new one opens in Broward and Palm Beach counties, according to a 
recent Broward County grand jury report. In the last six months of 2008, 
such clinics dispensed nearly 9 million doses of oxycodone in South Florida 
- -- the equivalent of more than two doses for every man, woman and child in 
Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Those who own and operate pill mills have no medical interest in actually 
treating pain or other medical conditions. Rather, they push pills simply 
for greed, similar to more "traditional" drug dealers.

Florida's pill mills are now the primary source of the unchecked flood of 
painkillers and anti-anxiety medications that fuel a large percentage of 
drug-related crime, addiction, hospitalizations and overdoses in our state. 
But this flood of diverted drugs doesn't stop at our state's boundaries; 
Florida's pill mills supply huge amounts of prescription drugs to other 
states, such as Kentucky and West Virginia.

To stem this flood and safeguard Florida's future health and safety, Gov. 
Charlie Crist signed legislation last year creating the Prescription Drug 
Monitoring Program. This legislation lays the groundwork for regulatory 
oversight of pain clinics. While this law is an important tool in the fight 
against prescription drug diversion, more must be done -- and done quickly 
- -- to stop the tidal wave of prescription-drug-related crime, addiction and 
death.

Gov. Crist and I remain committed to doing everything possible to protect 
Floridians, as well as our fellow Americans, from unscrupulous pill pushers 
and criminals who profit from prescription drug diversion.

Individuals running criminal enterprises must be prosecuted to the fullest 
extent of the law. To aid our efforts, I will be leading an interagency 
Statewide Prescription Drug Task Force of local, state, and federal law 
enforcement officials, state agencies and medical associations that will 
combine their resources and develop a coordinated plan of action during the 
coming months to crack down on pill mills throughout the state.

Too many Floridians have lost their lives because of prescription drug 
abuse. We must take action at all levels to eliminate criminal pill mill 
enterprises throughout Florida and protect the quality of life that we hold 
so dear in the Sunshine State. Florida's future depends on it.
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D