Pubdate: Mon, 14 Aug 2006
Source: Kingsport Times-News (TN)
Copyright: 2006 Kingsport Publishing Corporation
Contact: 
http://gotricities.net/domains/timesnews.net/lettertoEditor.dna?action=new
Website: http://www.timesnews.net/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1437
Author: Rain Smith

DRUG CULTURE: A PILL FOR EVERY ILL

Northeast Tennessee's most dire drug problem isn't crack, 
methamphetamine or marijuana. Because of common medical practices and 
the growing philosophy of a pill for every ill, Sullivan County 
District Attorney Greeley Wells says prescription medications have 
become the drug of choice for many.

"In numbers, what we're talking about in this area, the biggest 
problem we see is with prescription drugs," Wells said.

In 2005, the 2nd Judicial District saw 93 people indicted for 
prescription drug fraud. This year there have already been 48 
separate counts of prescription fraud, with 32 defendants indicted.

Based on his caseload, Wells said folks in the middle to upper 
classes appear most prone to abuse and becoming hooked on pills.

"My own personal feeling is there's a lot more prescriptions being 
written for addictive painkilling medications than have been written 
in the past," he said.

"I think the medical profession really should look at what they are 
doing more closely in dispensing these drugs."

And, according to a recently released survey from the American 
Prosecutors Research Institute, the Southeast is abusing prescription 
medication at a rate higher than elsewhere in the country. Based on 
the responses of 560 district attorneys, including Wells, the most 
prevalent drugs in caseloads nationwide are marijuana, followed by 
methamphetamine and cocaine.

Prescription drugs ranked fourth, and the survey noted that 
"prosecutors in the Southern region had significantly more cases of 
prescribed drugs when compared to other regions."

In 2002, according to health research company Novartis, Tennessee led 
the country with an average of almost 18 prescriptions per person per 
year. The Volunteer State's prescription-use rate has risen 28 
percent since 1999 and is more than twice that of California.

"There is no question prescriptions are being written for pain 
medication that are much stronger then needed to alleviate the pain 
of the sufferer." Wells said.

"Pain is a relative matter, and it is a very subjective thing. I can 
go to the doctor and tell them I'm in a great deal of pain, and the 
doctor doesn't know if I am or not. If my objective is to get one of 
these pain medications, I can fool the doctor by saying I'm in a 
great deal of pain."

Wells and some members of the medical community believe medicine in 
America has become compromised by special interests.

"I'm aware of cases where folks in the medical community have been 
taken along on free vacation trips for the number of sales they've 
(prescribed to patients)," Wells said.

Wells believes pain-management clinics - where morphine and methadone 
are often prescribed for pain - are also a factor in people becoming addicts.

"The police that investigate those cases are certainly aware who 
those physicians are," Wells said of pinpointing the source of 
prescription abuse.

Though it doesn't possess methamphetamine's immediate, explosive 
risks to a child's health, Wells sees a nation of pill-popping 
children on the horizon.

"From talking with folks in juvenile court, and talking to school 
children, prescription drugs are the biggest problems for our 
children," Wells said. "It's trickling down. The drug cases that come 
into juvenile court are mostly kids that have gotten into the 
medicine cabinets of their parents or a friend's parents."

According to Novartis, U.S. consumers spent $115 billion on 
prescription medication in 1999 -- about 10 prescriptions per person per year.

Wells sees the trend as creating an uphill battle for prosecutors, 
law enforcement and families trying to battle prescription abuse.

"I'm concerned it's habituating a number of children into the 
excessive and nonessential use of drugs," Wells said. "Unless 
something occurs to break the trend I'm seeing right now, the outlook 
is bleak. There are an increasing number of people becoming addicted 
to prescription painkillers. As those numbers increase, dangers to 
the public increase."
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman