Pubdate: Mon, 07 Apr 2014
Source: San Angelo Standard-Times (TX)
Copyright: 2014 The E.W. Scripps Co.
Contact: http://www.gosanangelo.com/forms/lettertoeditor/
Website: http://www.gosanangelo.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/865
Author: Matthew Waller

PRESCRIPTION DRUG ABUSE A PROBLEM

State House Panel Seeks To Curb The Trend

AUSTIN, Texas - Beyond the always illegal drugs that come through back
alley deals on street corners, Texas has another drug problem:
illicitly used prescription medication.

A state House committee in Austin met Monday to hear testimony on an
issue House Speaker Rep. Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, laid out for
lawmakers to address before the next legislative session.

The House Public Health Committee is looking to "recommend strategies
to curb emerging substance abuse trends among children, pregnant
women, and adults, as well as to reduce health care costs and
mortality," according to the speaker's interim charge.

Speaking to drug use such as that of OxyContin, Jane Maxwell, a
University of Texas social work research professor said a pill of
OxyContin can cost $72 on the street, while a bag of heroin can cost
$10, Maxwell said.

Drug poisoning deaths similar to heroin rose from 168 in 1999 to 525
in 2012 in Texas, more than heroin with an increase from 111 to 354
over the same time period.

Overdoses overall became the leading cause of death in 2010, above
even car crashes, according to Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention data, with 105 people dying every day from a drug overdose.

In 2010, 60 percent of the 38,329 drug overdose deaths were related to
pharmaceuticals, CDC material states.

People hooked on opioids such as OxyContin can turn to the illegal
heroin opioid, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw
testified.

Meanwhile, schools are becoming "flooded with black tar heroin,"
McCraw said.

Maxwell said methamphetamine has become more prevalent as well. In
2013, 66 items were seized and identified in labs as methylphendiate,
which includes Ritalin, as compared with 13,303 items identified as
meth in that same year.

On the prescription drug side, Mari Robinson, the executive director
of the Texas Medical Board, said that the problem isn't only people
cheating the system to get prescription drugs, but that some doctors
and pharmacies intentionally try to do nothing but sell drugs.

Robinson referred to pictures in slides she gave to members that show
pictures of a "pill mill," complete with bulletproof glass, guns found
at the location and a money counter to handle all the cash.

"You have to realize that there is a really large segment that ... are
doing it to sell drugs, period, the end," Robinson said.

McCraw said two steps might help. One is to make sure everyone is
looked up in a prescription database that the DPS maintains, and
another is to report people shopping for drugs at a pharmacy.

The lawmakers pointed out that he state has a pilot program in San
Antonio in which women addicted to drugs can go to treat the child
when born and help care for the child if the child needs to detoxify.

Pregnant women could become addicted to pain medication if they need
pain relief for their backs, Texas Department of State Health Services
Deputy Commissioner Mike Maples gave as an example.

Maxwell suggested training for prescribers to know the best practices
for prescribing.

"There is still a long way to go (to have people realize) that
prescription drugs are just as dangerous as street drugs," Robinson
said.
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