Bush's anti-drug strategy

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Registered: 04-16-2003
Bush's anti-drug strategy
1
Mon, 03-01-2004 - 2:02pm
March 1, 2004 | WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush's national anti-drug strategy will for the first time target the use of pain relievers, sedatives and stimulants for nonmedical purposes, a problem that has exploded in the last decade.

A key part of the strategy being released Monday involves government efforts to help states develop monitoring systems to track a patient's use of prescription medicine. The monitoring programs flag cases that indicate a pattern of abuse, such as "doctor shopping," where a patient gets prescriptions for drugs from multiple physicians.



Prescription medicine now ranks second, behind marijuana, among drugs most abused by adults and young people, said the report by the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy. It cited a recent study by the Health and Human Services Department.

Twenty states have prescription monitoring programs, the report said. John Walters, director of the drug policy office, said he expects to expand the program to 11 more states by next year. About $10 million in federal funds will bankroll the expansion.



With painkillers such as OxyContin and Vicodin widely available on the Internet, "pill mills" or rogue online pharmacies will come under increased scrutiny.

The Drug Enforcement Administration plans to aggressively pursue pharmacies selling controlled substances illegally over the Internet, an effort that will include deploying modern Web crawler technology to search out those peddling prescription drugs online.

Physician training and education programs will also be a part of the new campaign.

The Drug Policy Alliance, a New York-based group that promotes alternatives including the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes, was skeptical of Bush's strategy. It saw unintended consequences that will end up causing more pain and suffering.

"The principal impact of this campaign when you step up the law enforcement response is that doctors will err on the side of under-treating pain," said alliance Executive Director Ethan Nadelmann. "So any time a doctor is dealing with a patient in pain, their first instinct is not to prescribe enough."

Since 1995, emergency room visits from prescription drug abuse have risen 163 percent, the report said.

To highlight the problem among youth, it 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. One in 10 seniors, it said, reported nonmedical use of the painkiller.

Mark Surks of Kendall Park, N.J., who lost his son, Jason, a few months ago to a drug overdose, said he had no idea the 19-year-old was buying OxyContin and the anti-anxiety drug Xanax on the Internet.

"I was blindsided," Surks said. "There was no evidence that my son had ever been using any kind of drugs. He was a good kid. He was involved in the religious community, in sports and in music. He had tons of friends. It never crossed my mind that prescription drugs were a problem."

Surks praised the new focus by the White House on prescription drugs.

Bush outlined other facets of his anti-drug strategy during his State of the Union address in January. They include additional financing for drug-prevention efforts and a sharp increase in funds for schools that want to use drug testing to expand early intervention programs.

His proposal to boost funding from $2 million to $23 million for student drug testing has come under fire from some parents, school administrators and civil liberties groups concerned about privacy violations and the effectiveness of the testing.

http://www.salonmag.com/news/wire/2004/03/01/drug_plan/index.html

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Wed, 03-03-2004 - 1:44pm

UN urges stand on internet drugs.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3527779.stm


Governments should do more to crack down on the illicit trade in controlled drugs over the internet, according to a new report by a UN organisation.


The International Narcotics Control Board reports that there is an increase in dealers using cyberspace to market narcotics and mind-altering drugs.

Its annual report says internet pharmacies are shipping prescription- only drugs across the globe.

They are targeting former patients who have become addicted to drugs, it says.








DRUGS AVAILABLE ON THE NET


Abolon, an anabolic steroid

Clozapine, an antipsychotic

Evista for osteoporosis

Hyzaar for high blood pressure

Prozac for depression

Ritalin for hyperactivity

Tamoxifen for breast cancer

Viagra for impotence

The report warns the drug ritalin - used to treat hyperactive children - carries a high risk of abuse but was advertised on some websites as a "mild and harmless stimulant".

It calls on governments to ask the judiciary to "ensure that adequate penalties be attributed" to people caught trafficking controlled drugs on the internet.

An INCB board member, Hamid Ghodse, told a news conference in London that the trafficking of controlled drugs over the internet was "extremely serious".

"There are more sites on how to make drugs, how to manufacture and produce them and even how to avoid detection by the police than there are on drugs education."


Global issues

The INCB also reported the following findings:


  • European governments are creating a "permissive environment" for drug users, which could lead to a rise in the trade of illegal drugs across the continent.


  • Europe is a major producer of synthetic drugs such as ecstasy. Governments should tighten controls on "precursors" - legal chemical compounds which are used to make illegal synthetic drugs.


  • Drug traffickers are targeting middle-class US citizens with high-purity heroin that they can smoke rather than inject.


  • A shift from growing crops to cultivating cannabis is worsening food shortages in Africa. The drugs trade is also funding wars in the continent.


  • Turkmenistan is not doing enough to stem the flow of heroin coming from neighbouring Afghanistan. Afghanistan is the world's top producer of the opium poppy which is used to make heroin.
cl-Libraone~

 


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