Pubdate: Tue, 02 Dec 2003
Source: Sun Herald (MS)
Copyright: 2003, The Sun Herald
Contact:  http://www.sunherald.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/432
Author: Robin Fitzgerald

NARCOTICS TEAM TO BATTLE PRESCRIPTION-DRUG ABUSE

GULFPORT - A drug diversion unit introduced Monday will combat 
prescription-drug abuse, which has claimed 50 lives in Harrison County this 
year.

The Coastal Narcotics Enforcement Team will coordinate the full-time unit 
of four officers, said Capt. Pat Pope, who directs CNET and the Gulfport 
Police Department's narcotics team.

The diversion unit will tackle drug-related problems such as prescription 
fraud, thefts, embezzlements and robberies. The unit is composed of police 
officers from Long Beach and Gulfport and agents from the Mississippi 
Bureau of Narcotics. The unit also will investigate cases in Hancock and 
Stone counties.

Prescription-drug overdoses claimed 46 lives in Harrison County last year. 
The growing death toll shows it's time for agencies to share resources that 
could save lives, Pope said.

"If 50 people had died of West Nile Virus this year, there would be 
mosquito nets everywhere and we would have the National Guard out spraying 
and draining swamps," he said.

"We're also going after unscrupulous physicians, or 'dirty doctors,' who 
work outside the scope of their practice," he said.

The diversion agents will work under cover and build relationships with 
pharmacists to catch people who alter or forge legal prescriptions. Fraud 
is one of the most common methods that drug addicts use to obtain 
prescription drugs, Pope said.

"Name a drugstore, and I can take you there and find an altered or forged 
prescription in 30 minutes," he said.

"I can find one in 10 minutes," countered Sam Owens, MBN's southern region 
director.

Only a few states have a centralized computer system that keeps track of 
prescriptions for controlled substances. Until Mississippi begins to use 
that technology, CNET's diversion unit will search pharmacy records to find 
instances of "doctor shopping," a term for visiting several doctors to get 
multiple prescriptions, Pope said.

Most of Harrison County's fatal overdoses were unintentional and the result 
of mixing drugs or alcohol. One recent death involved only five pills taken 
within four hours, Pope said.

"It's not a matter of body size. It's a genetic thing," he said. "You could 
take the same pills as me, and I would be fine but it would kill you. Every 
person's body is different."

The diversion unit's work is similar to MBN's efforts, said Dwayne Brewer 
of MBN's Gulfport district, but "a small police agency just doesn't have 
the manpower to do this full time."

"We do now," Long Beach Police Chief Harley Schinker said, referring to the 
CNET unit. Long Beach has the highest drug fatality rate per capita in 
Harrison County.

CNET is funded by the U.S. Department of Justice.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman