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Black market sales for OxyContin continue to spike, with recent reports demonstrating skyrocketing street prices for prescription painkillers as they continue to feed the illegal industry. The rising prices of black market prescriptions are also an indicator of rapidly rising demand and increasing abuse levels nationally, causing experts to state that prescription drugs are the new "gateway" drug to addiction. Continue Reading
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At some point following treatment for substance abuse or co-occurring mental health disorder, whether it’s a few months or years afterward, there may be a time when you are ready to wean off prescribed medication. Of course, you’ll only do so under the direction and monitoring of your doctor, but when the time comes, you’ll want to take appropriate action to safely dispose of all those post-treatment medications.
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With prescription drug abuse on the rise, more states are taking extra measures to protect the public. As of July 2010, 44 states have either an operational prescription drug monitoring program (PMP) or have enacted legislation for a PMP. Some states have also implemented prescription drug mail-back programs, in which residents can return unused prescription medications to authorities using free return envelopes from their pharmacies. Now, several counties nationwide are making prescription lock boxes available to consumers so patients can prevent prescription drug abuse from happening in their own home.
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The Louisville Police Department Prescription Drug Diversion Squad makes 500 to 600 arrests each year. Even with arrests nearly every day, "We’re just scratching the surface," Detective Steve Watts told Brian Rokus of CNN. The number of investigations the unit initiates is up 148 percent compared to last year.
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Stories of addiction, death, betrayal and the fall of a public figure are the perfect fodder for the media and the public to seek their teeth into for a juicy story. In a recent report in the Trib, Natrona County’s former chief deputy coroner was sentenced to 10 years of probation for the possession of prescription drugs he stole from the coroner’s office.
