Pennsylvania Attorney General Hops on Prescription Drug Abuse Bandwagon

PA Atty General

5/14/04

Pennsylvania Attorney General Jerry Pappert has been holding news conferences across the state to announce his crusade against what US drug czar John Walters portrayed as the nation's leading drug menace (when it isn't marijuana): prescription drug abuse. Pappert announced that he is nearly doubling the size of a statewide investigated unit to target doctors, pharmacists, users, and street dealers of prescription drugs, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The state Bureau of Narcotics Investigation unit has increased its agents from 11 to 19, and they will be hitting the streets and visiting medical offices in the next two months, the attorney general announced at a May 4 Pittsburgh press conference. "The hiring of new agents will enable us to investigate more people who engage in this illegal conduct and also send a message that we are focused on prescription drug abuse," Pappert said.

Pappert also said he supported legislation that would heighten penalties for prescription theft or forgery, and which would make "doctor shopping" a misdemeanor. He warned that the looming rollout of generic Oxycontin by Purdue Pharma, which would cost half what the name-brand goes for, would lead to increasing supplies of the drug on the street. "We have seen the devastation that this often-overlooked problem has had on individuals and communities," Pappert said. "It is a problem that many of us in law enforcement see as getting worse."

Hmm, I guess pain patients are now up there with marijuana smokers as being the nations' leading drug using menace.

Regards,
Fred