Pubdate: Fri, 04 Mar 2016
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2016 The New York Times Company
Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/lettertoeditor.html
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v16/n110/a10.html
Author: Milton Cohen

STEPS WE CAN TAKE TO PREVENT OPIOID ABUSE

To the Editor:

Re "Governors Join the War Against Opioids" (editorial, Feb. 25):

Everyone is talking about opioid prescribing best practices: the 
National Governors Association, the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention, and dozens of national and state public and private 
organizations. But I haven't heard any talk about the need for 
improved security in retail dispensing standards.

It has been over 45 years since Washington last took action with the 
Poison Prevention Packaging Act of 1970, which mandated 
child-resistant standards for dispensing prescription medication. 
This is unforgivable.

Our nation's teenagers too easily and too often start down the road 
of addiction simply by opening their own parents' medicine cabinets. 
How many more lives will be lost before we as a nation take the very 
small step forward and require that all Schedule II to IV controlled 
substances be dispensed in locking prescription vials to prevent 
pilfering by our teenagers?

For all the pounds and pounds of cure we have thrown at this problem, 
we ignore the ounce of prevention that's available to us for around 
$1 per scrip - to the detriment of our own children.

MILTON COHEN

President, Safe Rx

Centennial, Colo.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom