Pubdate: Mon, 15 Sep 2014
Source: Baltimore Sun (MD)
Copyright: 2014 The Baltimore Sun Company
Contact:  http://www.baltimoresun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/37
Page: 12

HOOKED ON PILLS

Stoping Prescription Drug Abuse Requires a Multi-Pronged Approach

State officials are hoping a new public health initiative to track 
the distribution and sale of highly addictive prescription drugs in 
Maryland can help reduce the number of people who abuse such 
medications. The initiative, inspired by a program originally 
developed in Kentucky 15 years ago, has led to a drastic drop in 
prescription drug abuse there, and it has the potential to become an 
important element in Maryland's overall effort to reduce overdose 
deaths from both legal and illegal drugs.

Health officials say the prescription drug monitoring program has 
several goals.

It establishes a statewide database of prescriptions for opioid 
painkillers such as OxyContin and Percocet that will alert physicians 
and pharmacies to suspicious purchases that suggest fraud or abuse.

It's also intended to make the health professionals who use it more 
aware of the dangers of overprescribing such medications and to steer 
suspected abusers into treatment and recovery programs.

Whether the initiative will play a significant role in reducing the 
number of drug overdose deaths in Maryland is less clear.

Such deaths have been rising in recent years as prescription pain 
medications have become more expensive and harder to obtain as a 
result of the state's efforts to crack down on abuse.

In the worst-case scenario, people addicted to prescription drugs who 
suddenly find themselves unable to purchase opiates legally may turn 
to black market products or even to illegal narcotics like heroin, 
which is cheap and easily purchased on the street but poses even 
greater public health and safety risks than prescription drugs.

It's in the nature of addiction that people will go to almost any 
lengths to satisfy their cravings and avoid the sickening symptoms of 
withdrawal. It's easy to imagine that an addict turned away from a 
physician or pharmacy because of previous suspicious purchases 
uncovered through a prescription drug database might well turn to the 
dealer on the corner rather than accept a referral to a community 
drug treatment center.

Physicians and pharmacists can encourage people they suspect of 
abusing pain pills to get help for their addiction, but they can't 
compel them to do so.

That's why tracking prescription drug sales and offering treatment 
alternatives can be effective in reducing overall drug overdose 
deaths only if they are part of a comprehensive drug prevention 
strategy aimed at reducing addiction to both illegal narcotics and 
prescription drugs.

The plan developed by the state health department over the last two 
years represents a multi-pronged approach to the problem with a goal 
of reducing overall drug overdose deaths by 20 percent by the end of 2015.

In addition to monitoring prescription drug sales and improving 
access to drug treatment programs, the Maryland Opioid Overdose 
Prevention Plan calls for better tracking and information sharing 
among agencies regarding overdose deaths, enhanced clinical education 
and training for health care providers and outreach programs 
targeting specific communities at high risk for overdose deaths.

The effort also includes distributing the anti-overdose drug naloxone 
to family members of addicts so they can act quickly to save the 
lives of overdose victims, and protects them from criminal 
prosecution under Maryland's so-called "Good Samaritan Law," which 
provides immunity for anyone who assists a victim of overdose or 
reports it to police.

Maryland is one of the last states to introduce a prescription drug 
monitoring program, but unlike those of many states, its initiative 
is seated in the health department rather than in the criminal 
justice system or the pharmacy board, and it increasingly treats 
addiction as public health issue rather than as a matter for courts and police.

The monitoring program is just one of the initiatives aimed at 
reducing overdose deaths in the state, albeit a vital one, and it can 
be successful as part of an overall overdose prevention strategy 
tailored to the needs of the individuals and communities most at risk 
of becoming hooked on pills.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom