Attorney General Creates Prescription Drug Abuse Task
Posted on August 20, 2009Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway announced the creation of a new task force that will tackle the “insidious problem” of prescription drug abuse in the state. Conway said he will announce the members of the new task force this fall, and that it will include investigators in his office whose primary responsibility is to investigate drug crimes.
Conway said Kentucky now leads the nation in the use of prescription drugs for non-medical purposes. He also said his office would reach out to doctors around the state in an effort to determine who is responsible for the problem.
Warren County Commonwealth’s Attorney Chris Cohron said that prescription drug abuse has been rampant in Kentucky for some time and that the task force is needed. He said problems have gotten so bad in Warren County that he keeps a copy of the Physicians’ Desk Reference, a guide to drugs, on his desk.
“We need to work with our doctors, our dentists and oral surgeons to help address these issues,” said Cohron, who said he expects the task force to help do that.
Conway said he also has pushed for a federal drug law that makes it illegal to sell narcotics over the Internet without a prescription from a doctor who has had a face-to-face meeting with a patient. Also, Conway said, he pushed for state legislation to add the pain drug Tramadol to the list of scheduled narcotic drugs in Kentucky.
