Bush Anti-Drug Plan to Target Painkillers

AP ^ | 3/1/04

[Moleman]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush's national anti-drug strategy will for the first time target the use of pain relievers, sedatives and stimulants for nonmedical purposes, a problem that has exploded in the last decade.

A key part of the strategy being released Monday involves government efforts to help states develop monitoring systems to track a patient's use of prescription medicine. The monitoring programs flag cases that indicate a pattern of abuse, such as "doctor shopping," where a patient gets prescriptions for drugs from multiple physicians.

Prescription medicine now ranks second, behind marijuana, among drugs most abused by adults and young people, said the report by the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy. It cited a recent study by the Health and Human Services Department.

Twenty states have prescription monitoring programs, the report said. John Walters, director of the drug policy office, said he expects to expand the program to 11 more states by next year. About $10 million in federal funds will bankroll the expansion.

With painkillers such as OxyContin and Vicodin widely available on the Internet, "pill mills" or rogue online pharmacies will come under increased scrutiny.

The Drug Enforcement Administration plans to aggressively pursue pharmacies selling controlled substances illegally over the Internet, an effort that will include deploying modern Web crawler technology to search out those peddling prescription drugs online.

Physician training and education programs will also be a part of the new campaign.

The Drug Policy Alliance, a New York-based group that promotes alternatives including the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes, was skeptical of Bush's strategy. It saw unintended consequences that will end up causing more pain and suffering.

"The principal impact of this campaign when you step up the law enforcement response is that doctors will err on the side of under-treating pain," said alliance Executive Director Ethan Nadelmann. "So any time a doctor is dealing with a patient in pain, their first instinct is not to prescribe enough."

Since 1995, emergency room visits from prescription drug abuse have risen 163 percent, the report said.

To highlight the problem among youth, it noted a University of Michigan study that found abuse by high school seniors of Vicodin more than double the use of cocaine, Ecstasy or methamphetamine. One in 10 seniors, it said, reported nonmedical use of the painkiller.

Mark Surks of Kendall Park, N.J., who lost his son, Jason, a few months ago to a drug overdose, said he had no idea the 19-year-old was buying OxyContin and the anti-anxiety drug Xanax on the Internet.

"I was blindsided," Surks said. "There was no evidence that my son had ever been using any kind of drugs. He was a good kid. He was involved in the religious community, in sports and in music. He had tons of friends. It never crossed my mind that prescription drugs were a problem."

Surks praised the new focus by the White House on prescription drugs.

Bush outlined other facets of his anti-drug strategy during his State of the Union address in January. They include additional financing for drug-prevention efforts and a sharp increase in funds for schools that want to use drug testing to expand early intervention programs.

His proposal to boost funding from $2 million to $23 million for student drug testing has come under fire from some parents, school administrators and civil liberties groups concerned about privacy violations and the effectiveness of the testing.

----

On the Net:

Office of National Drug Control Policy: http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov

Drug Policy Alliance: http://www.drugpolicy.org

Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

[Moleman]

I am so sick of wasting OUR tax money worring about what others may or may not do to their bodies. Perscriptions are expensive enough and now will only increase as doctors become woried about the next lawsuit filed because they perscribed xanax to someone. I have had anxiety issues and believe me xanax does not "get you high" rather, calms our nerves so you can function like a normal human being.

[Moleman]

I appologize if this has been posted but I could not find after an extensive search.
Regards,
Moleman

[BiffWondercat]

Not to mention that it makes it even harder to get good pain relief for those who need it.

[Wolfie]

Now everybody gets to be the focus of the Drug War. Should be fun.

[playball0]

Is doctor shopping a big deal? I don't think its a big problem. I'd like to see a cost/benefit analysis before the government gets into drug monitoring. If it can save billions or if it can really identify people who really need help I might be open to it.

Sounds like another boondoggle to me.

[Hildy]

Is it against the law now to buy drugs online ... I mean these painkillers. I get 50 ads a day for them, it's not illegal, is it?

[EggsAckley]

I am in the final stages of this year's very bad cold bug, and without a xanax now and then I would have gone into full panic attack due to the breathing problems. *sigh*

[headsonpikes]

Let's not have nattering negativity on this issue.

The government NEEDS to look after everybody's health.

Yankee know-how can make socialism work!

[TKDietz]

Whoa! You have the flu and you think you need Xanax or you'd have panic attacks because you are all stopped up? It's not Xanax you need. A set of "eggs" and maybe some backbone wouldn't hurt though.

[EggsAckley]

You have no idea what you're talking about pal. When you wake up in the middle of the night and can't breath, see if it doesn't cause you a little bit of concern. These were prescribed, by the way.

So take your judgementalism elsewhere; it's not welcome here, newbie.

[from occupied ga]

Oh the joy of having a kidney stone when you've run out of percodan. Yes you can always go to the doctor to get another prescription, but who wants to when you're writhing on the floor in pain?

My wish to all of the drug warriors out there is that you have excruciatingly painful conditions (like bone cancer) and not be given any pain medication because after all we wouldn't want you to abuse it.

[cwb]

Bingo! I can tell you that as a chronic pain patient, that even before this proposed legislation, it was hard as hell for me to find a doctor who was comfortable prescribing any kind of narcotic. For some time, I had to "doctor shop" until I found the right doctor who would treat my pain aggressively. Is this now going to be a crime, as well? I literally spent thousands of dollars on PT, NSAIDs, trigger point injections/epiderals, biofeedback, etc...all because there is a fear within the medical community of legal liability. Yes, there are some bad apples in the bunch, but this nonsense is only going to make it more unbearable for the real patient in crisis.

There's also a great deal of hypocrisy with some conservative views of treatment and how it relates to the medical community: We abhor euthenasia(sp) and assisted suicide...for good reason. The argument is, that we have advanced medicines and treatment to elliviate the illness. Yes we do...but what good is that if we are going to make it more difficult for those seaking relief to obtain that medicine?

Depression and pain are two health related issues that lead many to contemplating suicide...and now you're going to make it even more difficult as doctors have more to fear from government. You can't have it both ways.

[steve-b]

About $10 million in federal funds will bankroll the expansion.

George, George, George, no matter how many sticky notes you propose to put on the Constitution you're going back to Crawford if you don't get your spending addiction under control.

[tdadams]

Since 1995, emergency room visits from prescription drug abuse have risen 163 percent, the report said.

I will never take at face value any statistic put forth by the ONDCP. I've seen the utterly blatant misinformation they distribute regarding marijuana, commiting lies of ommission to make it seem as if thousands of people end up in the emergency room because of marijuana. In actuality, anyone who comes to an ER with the smallest amount of marijuana in their system is added to the statistics, indicating a "marijuana-related emergency room visit." How laughable.

[Ken H]

I'd like to see a cost/benefit analysis before the government gets into drug monitoring.

I think they did and found that it will cost us and benefit them.

Sounds like another boondoggle to me.

They are consistent, I'll give them that.

[Wolfie]

In actuality, anyone who comes to an ER with the smallest amount of marijuana in their system is added to the statistics, indicating a "marijuana-related emergency room visit."

Its more insidious (and dishonest) than that. If you even mention marijuana on the questionnaire (as in, "Have you ever smoked?", the Feds put it down as a "marijuana-related" visit. I suspect the data on painkillers is cooked up the same way.

[Wolfie]

Ya think any of the idjits in Congress will have trouble getting pain relief? I doubt it.

[Vigilantcitizen]

Bookmark for later when I have the time to say just how disgusted I am over this.

[douglas1]

That was uncalled for .

[EggsAckley]

Thank you.

[Mamzelle]

Call one doc a "pusher" and a hundred will stop prescribing. This is a shame--we have bounced back and forth so many times on this front, and pain management right now is one the side of the sufferer, knowing that there is some risk of addiction. Soon, there'll be less risk of addiction and lots more suffering. Again, a shame.

[tiamat]

TKDietz wrote:

Whoa! You have the flu and you think you need Xanax or you'd have panic attacks because you are all stopped up? It's not Xanax you need. A set of "eggs" and maybe some backbone wouldn't hurt though.

---

That is COMPLETELY uncalled for, ignorant and unkind.

[DumpsterDiver]

I have had anxiety issues and believe me xanax does not "get you high" rather, calms our nerves so you can function like a normal human being.

I'm the same way. My doctor prescribed the lowest strength they make and I split that pill in half and take one in the morning, another in the late afternoon. My doctor isn't worried about me becoming a raving addict and I wish the government would butt out of it.

I'm beginning to think that John Walters is a direct descendant of the technical advisor who worked on the movie Reefer Madness.

[Lady Composer]

Pain-relief meds such as Vicodin, Darvon, Oxycontin are controlled and must be taken only by those with a presciption. They CANNOT be be bought LEGALLY anywhere without a prescription.

I worked in a hospital pharmacy for 15 years in Illinois.

[EggsAckley]

~</;o)

[TKDietz]

I'm sorry, I just see so many people taking these drugs for the most suspect reasons. We are turning into such a pill popping society, popping a pill for whatever might ail us. I just think it's a bad idea to use all of these drugs to treat our psychological/emotional symptoms.

[TKDietz]

Geez people, take a chill pill. I was mostly kidding.

[Hildy]

I guess these companies are offshore. That's the way around it, isn't it?

[dawn53]

Okay, if the government is going to play "drug cop", (which I don't agree with, by the way), I'd like to see them address the issue of doctors over prescribing meds and giving too strong of a dosage to the elderly.

My MIL, is a royal pain in the rear end to her doctors. She sees every kind of specialist there is (even though she has no real health issues.) Rather than just looking her in the eye and telling her there's nothing they can do, they write her a prescription.

She pays for all these prescriptions herself, probably spending about $600 dollars a month. The dosages are outrageous. I look online and find that the dosage they have prescribed should never be given to an elderly person, much less one that weighs barely 100 lbs.

I'm not entirely blaming the docs because she is the one pushing for the drugs, but they are the docs and she is the patient, and they don't have to give in.

If and when Medicare starts paying toward the purchase of these meds it will make the situation all the worse, IMHO.

[Elliott Jackalope]

I went through similar problems dealing with pain. I've got three different things going on that cause pain, sometimes quite severe. I used to have an HMO where you literally had to beg to get any pain medication, and then they would prescribe six or eight pills just to get rid of you. I dumped that HMO just as soon as I could, and now I pay out of pocket to find decent doctors.

Just recently I was dealing with a lot of pain caused by a torn rotator cuff in my right shoulder. My doctor prescribed Oxycontin for the pain, and within two weeks of taking the pain medication on a daily basis my shoulder healed up enough to where I didn't need the meds any longer. That shoulder had been hurting for months, but once I was able to short-circuit the pain the muscles were able to relax a bit and heal up, and now I don't need the pain meds for my shoulder any longer.

This is the problem with the whole "war on drugs". It keeps legitimate patients who are in pain from getting the pain medications needed to help them heal. People who are in chronic pain heal less well and more slowly than people who get pain medication. This is not just my opinion, numerous studies have come to the same conclusion. Now, thanks to the omnipotent nanny state Big Brother government we all suffer under, more and more people are going to be sicker longer, and suffer needlessly, all because some pointy-headed bureaucrat says "drugs are bad, mmmkay?"

This government needs an enema.

[EggsAckley]

Suggestion: walk a mile in someone's shoes before opening your big yap and making an a$$ of yourself.



Have a nice day.

[ContemptofCourt]

You would be amazed how simple it is to purchase practically any medication you want from a European company with an internet presence. Illegal, yes, but simple.

[tiamat]

TKDietz wrote:

Geez people, take a chill pill. I was mostly kidding.

---

You need to be careful with that, and know something about who it is you are talking about, and to.

The meds CAN be a useful tool.

I am a diagnosed depressive, and have PTSD ( Post Traumatic Stress Disorder aka "Shell shock") I won't go into big details about what happened with me to cause it, but some of it was genetic.

After 9-11, I did about 6 months on Zoloft. ( Couldn't get the horror and the signifigance out of my head) Does this make me weak?

I don't think so.

I recognized that I was vulnerable to despair and suicidal thoughts, I knew I needed to continue to be a good Mom for my little girl, and so I went and got some help.

We all get by.

Eggs is a good person and strong.

FReegards

[TLI]

This is the problem with the whole "war on drugs". It keeps legitimate patients who are in pain from getting the pain medications needed to help them heal. People who are in chronic pain heal less well and more slowly than people who get pain medication.

BINGO! Right on the $$$$

[TLI]

may you have seperated ribs and see how you like it, ... and what you beg for.

[Hildy]

I can imagine because like I said, I get 50 emails a day telling me to order any drug I want!

[Monty22]

"Depression and pain are two health related issues that lead many to contemplating suicide...and now you're going to make it even more difficult as doctors have more to fear from government. You can't have it both ways."

Believe it or not, addiction itself is usually far worse than anything they are trying to treat. Usually, but not always. And believe me, it leads to suicide too.

[EggsAckley]

tia, your story sounds very similar to mine. Certain medications have helped me survive several years of anxiety and pain. I would not have made it, I'm sure, without some help.

eggs.

[tiamat]

And you were/are right to recognize it and get the help you need!

Much luck, Eggs!

;-)

[TKDietz]

It wouldn't be Xanax. Xanax is for treating anxiety, panic attacks and sometimes depression. It is not generally prescribed as a pain killer.

Sorry, but I just hate Xanax. After alcohol, it's right between marijuana and meth around here meth around here as a drug people love to abuse. It's everywhere and people take it for the most lame reasons. Many just can't handle life, others use it to come down when they've been tweaking on meth. There are several doctors here who will prescribe it to anyone who asks for it. People bring huge loads of it up from Mexico. We now see a lot of DWI drugs here now with people zombie'd out on Xanax. I get all sorts of clients as a public defender who did whatever they did while they were drunk and whacked out on Xanax. I've also seen Xanax abuse play as a major contributing factor in child neglect cases. I hear so many excuses for why people think they "need" the stuff and the fact is that most of them just need to toughen up and leave the drugs alone. Most think these drugs are going to help them live with their problems but the fact of the matter is that these drugs often just cause them new problems on top of their old problems.

[lucidloony]

Does the word Emphysema ring a bell. It fells as if your drowning and causes a panic reaction.

[Canadian Outrage]

I agree with you. This is just ANOTHER intrusion into everyone's life by the GOVERNMENT. We have it also. It's a collosal waste of money. It turns the practice of medicine on it's head and creates a whole other level of beauracrats!! How rediculous.

[TKDietz]

I am familiar with Emphysema. My mother and my mother-in-law both have it. My mother's mother died from it. My mother has been in respiratory failure and is now on oxygen 24/7. I've never seen her so terrified as she was when they had her in the hospital in respiratory failure. If EggsAckley has Emphysema, then I really do feel bad about my original comment. I just realized EggsAckley was a woman. Initially I just though it was some guy with a cold who needed anti-anxiety medicine to live with his stuffy nose and that seemed a little squirrelly to me.

EggAckley, I'm sorry. That was an insensitive comment on my part.

[lucidloony]

Sorry too hear your mother has Emphysema its a horrible disease.

[cwb]

"Believe it or not, addiction itself is usually far worse than anything they are trying to treat."

You don't know that. Unless you've been in that person's shoes, you have no idea how much he/she may be suffering. It is up to the individual to make that decision...not you. For some, the addiction may be more managable.

[Kozak]

Short of a national drug database, with your social security number, maybe fingerprint ID, and everyone enrolled who gets any controlled substance I don't see how this can work. Also, another huge money maker for the mob as people try to get around the system. Lovely.

[optik_b]

Look out Rush!