It’s a problem nationwide and certainly in West Virginia as well – the flow of legally prescribed medications into the black market. These drugs have legitimate uses, but abuse is becoming more and more common because people have the mistaken impression that they are “safe” or an alternative to street drugs.
The summit, held in February of this year, addressed the problem of prescription drug abuse in detail. Now, six-months later, the recommendations were finally announced. The report outlines a complete strategy that will be the focus of legislation and rulemaking moving forward. It’s a combination approach with roles, not only for policing authorities, but courts and the medical community as well.
On the medical side, there are recommendations on how to prevent and stop pill mills – clinics set up specifically to serve the demands of the drug abuse community. This is paired with ideas on prescription tracking through pharmacies and record keeping shared between doctors. Other states use systems of interlinked data that alerts when the same patient appears to be getting medications from different doctors to subvert restrictions.
On the enforcement and punishment front, ideas revolve around treatment as a preference to imprisonment. Drug courts are a popular and proven option that lowers costs and helps those who are at the bottom rung in the addiction economy.
Also mentioned was the possibility of cooperation with bordering states to share information and prevent the importation of prescription drugs to bypass a crackdown. Finally, the report addresses an often overlooked part of the problem – how our youngsters perceive prescription medications. Because they observe parents and trusted adults using these drugs, they come to think of them as different than street drugs, an assumption that may lead them down the road to becoming users themselves.
The full report can be found here.
