A state commission called yesterday for more aggressive tracking of
people who abuse addictive painkillers and the doctors who prescribe
them.
The OxyContin Commission, established by the Legislature in 2004 to
combat prescription abuse, also called for more cooperation among
state officials, regulators, and law enforcement officials, as well as
education for teachers and parents, safer storage of prescription
drugs, and a statewide disposal program for unused pills.
Abuse of OxyContin and other prescription drugs was responsible for a
600 percent increase in opioid-related deaths in Massachusetts between
1990 and 2003, particularly among teenagers and young adults. Opioids
are synthetic drugs that have a chemical structure similar to opium.
``It used to be that years ago we raided parents' liquor cabinets for
liquor," Representative Peter J. Koutoujian, the commission chairman,
said in an interview after the group released its final report. ``Now
kids are raiding parents' medicine cabinets for drugs."
Abuse of painkillers occurs throughout the state, but it is especially
prevalent in suburban neighborhoods where young people can afford the
drugs, Koutoujian said.
This ``has been identified as a middle-class drug," Koutoujian said,
adding that it has hit Lynn, Greater Somerville, and the South Shore
particularly hard. ``I'm talking about blocks and blocks of areas that
have a tremendously high rate of children abusing prescription drugs."
The 11- member committee recommended closer monitoring of patients who
receive and fill multiple prescriptions at multiple doctors' offices
and pharmacies and of doctors or pharmacists suspected of knowingly
supplying addicts' drugs.
``There has been frustration by [regulators] and by law enforcement
that this information is out there, but it hasn't been analyzed nor
shared," said Koutoujian, a Democrat whose district covers Newton,
Waltham, and Watertown. ``We know that other states are more actively
utilizing this information, and Massachusetts needs to do this."
OxyContin, an opioid-based painkiller, has been the main source of
prescription drug abuse, according to the report. When used correctly,
the drug slowly releases medication into the bloodstream, allowing
patients suffering from chronic pain to function normally and nearly
pain-free. Abusers of the drug, however, crush and snort the tablet,
chew it, or dissolve it in water and inject the solution for an
immediate heroin-like high.
Addicts often start with prescription drugs such as OxyContin, which,
on the street, costs approximately $80 for one 80 mg pill , but
eventually turn to less expensive heroin or other street drugs when
they can no longer afford the medication.
``No one has stopped at OxyContin," Koutoujian said. ``They become
full-blown heroin addicts."
Michael Botticelli , assistant commissioner for substance abuse
services at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and a member
of the OxyContin Commission, said his department is already working on
the recommendations.
``It really validates much of the work that has already been going on
at the Department of Public Health for the past year," Botticelli
said, citing a recent campaign against OxyContin abuse and ongoing
efforts to enhance the prescription drug monitoring program
Labels: No Prescription, Online Pharmacy, Prescription Drugs
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