Pubdate: Sun, 27 Feb 2011 Source: Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL) Copyright: 2011 Sun-Sentinel Company Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/mVLAxQfA Website: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/159 Authors: Amy Pavuk and Bob LaMendola, Sun Sentinel Bookmark: http://www.drugsense.org/cms/geoview/n-us-fl (Florida) POLITICIANS ASK GOV. RICK SCOTT TO REVERSE STAND ON PRESCRIPTION DRUG MONITORING PROGRAM Minutes after announcing the biggest raids so far against pill mills, South Florida's top law enforcement leaders last week sent a message to Gov. Rick Scott. Standing together at a podium in Weston, several of them urged the new governor to drop his opposition to the state's much-anticipated prescription tracking system. They said the computer database would become their main weapon against the illegal narcotics trade at Florida's pain clinics. "It's critical that we have that database," Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti said. "Otherwise, Florida is going to remain a problem state for pill mills. It is a huge step backward to rescind that [system]. We cannot arrest our way out of this problem." Forty-two other states have approved the databases, with at least 34 in operation so far. Drug dealers and addicts know which states don't have them, and that's a big reason they flood across the Southeast to Florida's pill mills, said Mark Trouville, special agent in charge of the South Florida office of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. "I can't comment on the governor," Trouville said, but added: "In the states that have a [system,] the problem is nowhere near as serious as it is here." Scott earlier this month had stunned law enforcement, legislators and Floridians who have lost relatives to pain pill abuse when he proposed eliminating the "prescription drug monitoring program," or PDMP. "I don't think it's the state's responsibility," Scott said at a press briefing on Feb. 14. "I don't think it's something the state ought to be doing, tracking everybody's, every individual's drug interactions." The database was aimed at tracking prescriptions of drugs containing controlled substances, such as painkillers. The idea is to help law enforcement, doctors and pharmacists detect patients getting drugs from multiple sources at once, to amass excessive quantities. Florida's PDMP, approved by the Legislature in 2009, was supposed to start on Dec. 1, but is delayed by a bid dispute. The Governor's office did not respond to repeated requests for comment either about eliminating the drug database, or about how he plans to combat escalating prescription drug abuse in Florida. But previously, Scott has said the database would be a government intrusion into people's medical affairs, do little to stop pill mills and cost the state $500,000 a year if private grants can't be found to support it. Even before he was even sworn into office, Scott abolished the state agency assigned to reduce substance abuse, established under former Gov. Jeb Bush, and canned Florida's drug czar. Scott's actions confounded some Floridians and drew sharp criticism from leaders across the nation who see Florida as source state for prescription drugs. "The notion of cancelling Florida's PDMP is equal to firing firefighters while your house is ablaze," U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, a Republican from Kentucky, wrote to Scott on Feb. 17. "It neither makes sense nor addresses an urgent crisis." Rogers said in his letter that "a giant sigh of relief swept across the nation" when Florida's PDMP was signed into law. "Thousands of unscrupulous drug dealers and addicted users have made the trek to your state because of the ease of access to these powerful and habit-forming drugs," wrote Rogers, whose state leads the nation in the non-medical use of prescription drugs. "And after years of prodding, your predecessor acknowledged the need for action." National reaction Leaders from across the nation have implored Florida's governor to reverse his position on the PDMP. U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson -- along with colleagues from New York, Rhode Island and West Virginia -- wrote Scott to express "grave concerns" about the proposed elimination of the monitoring program. "Such a policy not only leaves Florida exposed to criminal elements in the business of trafficking controlled substances, but also has serious ramifications for the rest of the country battling abuse of prescription drugs," the senators wrote in their Feb. 20 letter. Kentucky is a prime example. That state has a prescription drug monitoring program, and law enforcement there recognized years ago that their residents travel to Florida to avoid having their drug transactions tracked. Many of the start-up costs for the databases, including Florida's, were paid by federal grants. The DEA has told Congress its goal is to facilitate the establishment or enhancement of state PDMPs. Even the White House has taken notice of Scott's intentions. R. Gil Kerlikowske, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, recently requested a meeting with Scott. As of Friday, a meeting has not been scheduled. Kerlikowske was not available for an interview, but Office spokesman Rafael Lemaitre said the nation's prescription drug epidemic "stretches across borders and requires a collaborative response from all of us." "We owe it to the thousands of victims of prescription drug abuse in Kentucky, Florida, and throughout the nation to work together to implement state initiatives like Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs that we know work to reduce this public health threat," he said. Scott's decision has also drawn the disappointment and ire of some parents, relatives and friends of prescription drug victims. At a protest last week in front of a pill mill, the main message was to urge Scott not to kill the database. Michelle Moore, who picketed for the first time at Monday's rally by the grassroots group Stop The Organized Pill Pushers Now, said she is outraged at how easily her adult son became addicted at pill mills. "Whatever the governor's reasons and justifications are for trying to kill it, they don't make sense to the parents of a drug addict," Moore said. "We need to do everything -- everything -- we can to stop these pill mills." Database foes At a House Health and Human Services Committee workshop Thursday, chair Rep. Robert Schenck, R-Spring Hill, clearly opposed the database. Others on the committee questioned whether illicit clinics and unscrupulous doctors would report to a database honestly and why Florida even allows some doctors to dispense drugs directly rather than sending patients to a pharmacy. Although Schenck voted for the database in 2009, he said he heard nothing in Thursday's workshop to convince him of its likely effectiveness: "It forfeits people's privacy for a reason that's not solving a bigger problem. There's no conclusive proof that [databases] either help or exacerbate the problem." After the workshop, Rep. John Wood, R-Winter Haven, said he remains open to the idea of a database but has some concerns. "I've got privacy concerns about this data somehow being leaked out," he said. "We would have data being reported on law-abiding citizens." House Speaker Dean Cannon, one of only 13 legislators who voted against the database when it was approved in 2009, said last week that he does not view monitoring every pain pill prescription as an efficient weapon against pill mills. He did not offer an alternative method. Given the lack of alternatives, Bruce Grant, who headed Florida's Office of Drug Control until Scott abolished it, said the fact that Florida has such a huge prescription drug problem is "a testament to the fact we didn't have anything in place." "If you've got a better idea than the PDMP, let's hear it," Grant said. "It's not perfect, certainly, but at least it's a start at cutting back on people dying. How could you be against that?" - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake