Pubdate: Tue, 02 Oct 2001 Source: Daily News (KY) Copyright: 2001 News Publishing LLC Contact: http://www.bgdailynews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1218 Note: This editorial was credited to The Kentucky Post, Covington Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?186 (Oxycontin) APPROACH COULD HELP WITH OTHER FAD DRUG ISSUES Drug dealers peddling OxyContin and abusers craving the powerful painkiller will stop at nothing. They'll break into pharmacies and physician's offices, steal pads and forge prescriptions, go from doctor's office to doctor's office faking symptoms and feign illness at emergency rooms to get the drug. Since it surfaced in the commonwealth two years ago as a growing drug of abuse, illegal OxyContin use in eastern Kentucky has reached epidemic proportions and spread to other parts of the state. Dozens of deaths have been attributed to its misuse. Authorities report more than 600 arrests for trafficking or abuse this year alone. Clearly tighter controls, tougher enforcement and better education about the drug's dangers are needed. A task force, formed by Gov. Paul Patton in February, has come up with some good starting points to rein in on illegal prescriptions for OxyContin. The task force recommends requiring whoever presents or picks up the prescription to show a photo ID or thumbprint, no longer allowing physicians to phone in prescriptions, limiting prescriptions written by emergency-room doctors to a three-day supply and making better use of the state's computer system that tracks prescription drugs. The task force's aim is to make it impossible for people to get the drug for illegal use while not impeding those who need it from getting their prescriptions filled. Halting the illegal use of OxyContin will require smart controls on how prescriptions of the drug are dispensed. It also will require better use of the state's computer tracking system by physicians, pharmacists and law enforcement, including requiring same-day entry of prescription purchases rather than the current 15-day window to record the data. And it will require better education about the dangers of the drug and stepped-up enforcement. Rep. Gross Lindsay, D-Henderson, complained about singling out OxyContin, which he said his late wife used to ease her pain. After recently hearing the task force recommendations, he said abuse of OxyContin is today's fad and soon "some other drug will become the fad." But that's just the point. If by working together, physicians, pharmacists and law enforcement can keep OxyContin out of the hands of dealers and abusers, the same measures can be used to halt the illegal use of other prescription drugs. - --- MAP posted-by: Jackl