Hurrah for The Southern Regional Drug and Violent Crime Task Force that is leading the initiative to get after the illegal use and distribution of prescription drugs. Six suspects from Mercer County have been indicted in the last week of September 2011, on federal charges of illegally distributing hydromorphone, and one suspect was indicted for distributing oxycodone. Each of these defendants faces a possibility of spending the next 10 or 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
This past June 9 other people were indicted over in the Bluefield and Princeton areas. U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin said that, "Prescription drug abuse has ravaged families and communities across the country. No place has been hit any harder than the area around Bluefield.”
The Task Force was a multi-agency effort referred to in house as the Bluefield Pill Initiative, and covering Mercer, McDowell and Wyoming counties. Goodwin proclaimed that the first part of the initiative has been a great success. He sees it as turning the tide. "The first wave of our initiative has been a striking success, with eight dealers convicted and off the streets in just a few months. That's a testament to what can be accomplished when government at every level joins together with committed citizens to attack a problem. This next round of prosecutions reaffirms our resolve to put the pill pushers out of business."
One has to wonder at the enormity of this prescription drug problem. It seems that so many people do not see the same stigma attached to this that they would to taking heroin or crack. Perhaps because it’s simpler and less messy to take? Perhaps because it doesn’t involve a trip to the other side of the tracks? It’s hard to say. Generally, people must be feeling a lack of purpose in their lives to consider doing such things that they have been taught are harmful.
Besides the law enforcement initiative, one can only hope that something will be done to get at the source of this growing problem as well.
