> White House targets prescription drug  abuse
> By Associated Press
> Published March 2,  2004
>
>
>
> WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is pushing for stronger  state
> monitoring of prescription drug use in a crackdown on the escalating abuse  of
> sedatives, pain relievers and stimulants.
> Under the strategy announced  Monday, the government will pay states to help
> develop monitoring systems to  track patients' drug use. The programs would
> flag cases indicating a pattern of  abuse, such as "doctor shopping," where a
> patient gets prescriptions for drugs  from multiple physicians.
> Federal officials also plan to seek out pharmacies  that sell controlled
> substances illegally over the Internet, which will entail  deploying modern
> Web-crawler technology to search out those peddling  prescription drugs online.
> The goal, say federal health officials: reduce  illegal drug use by 10
> percent in two years and by 25 percent in five  years.
> "The nonmedical use of prescription drugs has become an increasingly 
> widespread and serious problem in this country, one that calls for immediate 
> action," John Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug  Control
> Policy, said at a news conference.
> In addition, the White House is to  convene a conference of representatives
> from professional sports leagues and the  U.S. Olympic Committee to discuss
> steroid use by athletes.
> Prescription  medicine now ranks second, behind marijuana, among drugs most
> abused by adults  and young people, according to a report by the drug control
> office. Meanwhile,  emergency room visits resulting from abuse of narcotic pain
> relievers have  jumped 163 percent since 1995, it said.
> The plan would dedicate about  $10-million in federal money to augment
> prescription monitoring programs in 20  states and expand them to 11 more states by
> next year. Another $138-million  would be dedicated toward physician training
> and education programs as well as  fighting illegal Internet sales.
> Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the  Drug Policy Alliance, which
> supports legalizing marijuana for medical use, said  Bush's plan will have a
> chilling effect on doctors.
> "The principal impact of  this campaign when you step up the law enforcement
> response is that doctors will  err on the side of undertreating pain,"
> Nadelmann said.
> Karen Tandy, head of  the Drug Enforcement Administration, said teenagers are
> particularly at risk for  prescription drug abuse. It is her agency's job to
> crack down on illegal  Internet sales, including the flood of spam with the
> lure of controlled  substances at a low cost.
> "Criminals who divert legal drugs into the illegal  market are no different
> from a cocaine or heroin dealer peddling poisons on the  street corner," she
> said. "DEA is aggressively working to put an end to this  illicit practice
> whether it occurs in doctors' offices or  cyberspace."
> Federal officials 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.
> [Last modified March 2, 2004,  01:44:59]
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar.
> Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free!
> http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/iGurlB/TM
> --------------------------------------------------------------------~->
>
>  
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
> <*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
>     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DisabilityConvention/
>
> <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
>     DisabilityConvention-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
> <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
>     http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>  
>