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Posted on Thu, May. 20, 2004

Kids get drugs on Internet, says DEA

'Rogue pharmacies' contribute to abuse

By Bill Cotterell

DEMOCRAT POLITICAL EDITOR


The head of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration said Wednesday that the Internet has become "the back-alley drug dealer" for young people looking for prescription pills.

The use of illegal drugs has declined significantly, in Florida and nationwide, DEA Administrator Karen Tandy told participants at the annual Florida Drug Summit in Tallahassee. But abuse of prescription drugs and production of methamphetamines remain dangerously high.

She blamed "a culture of indifference" among citizens who've never had a family member affected by addictive pills, narcotics or alcohol.

Because of more than 3,000 prescription-drug overdoses a year in Florida, Gov. Jeb Bush has championed the creation of a statewide database of all prescriptions given for potentially addicting drugs. The idea is to prevent addicts from filling multiple prescriptions and to prevent doctors and pharmacies from illegally over-prescribing.

But Tandy said hundreds of "rogue pharmacies" online tout "no waiting rooms, no physical exams and no prior prescriptions needed." That's how young people are finding it easy to get shipments of drugs illegally.

"The back-alley drug dealers ... are now in your homes, in your kid's bedroom and in your child's dorm room," she said. "Those kids, I don't need to tell you, are so adept on that Internet - I got my password from my 14-year-old - and those kids have access to an entire pharmacy. All they need is a credit card."

The DEA has determined that only 14 online pharmacies - including some nationally known companies such as CVS, Walgreens and Eckerd - fill prescriptions with proper clearance from doctors who have examined patients.

Governor praises drug courts

Some 300 health, education, law enforcement and social-service workers spent Wednesday sharing information about programs that have been successful in Florida. Columba Bush, the governor's wife, stayed for the sessions and actively discussed several of the reports.

The governor said he was pleased that Florida now has 88 drug courts, which allow those charged with relatively minor offenses to be sent to treatment instead of jail. Their daughter, Noelle, successfully completed such a program.

"I've seen it firsthand," Bush said. "I know the drug court system works."

He and his drug-policy adviser, Jim McDonough, lamented the third straight year of failure for a bill by Rep. Gayle Harrell that would create a statewide database of who's dispensing and who is consuming prescription drugs.

"The epidemic of overdoses of legal prescription drugs misused in our state is threatening," Bush said. "We should be scared by this."

Privacy concerns were the stumbling block for the database. Harrell said House Speaker Johnnie Byrd and a few other House members refused to let her bill pass this year. She said the measure had safeguards for privacy, making it a felony punishable by a $5,000 fine and five years in prison to hack into a patient's records.

Bush also expressed disappointment that the 2004 Legislature did not budget the full $16 million he requested for anti-tobacco advertising and education.

Street-drug use down

Nationwide, President Bush's goal of cutting drug use 10 percent in his first two years in office has been met or surpassed in many areas, Tandy said. Use of the club drug Ecstasy declined 54 percent, marijuana 11 percent, LSD 60 percent and amphetamines 17 percent.

"As much as the legalizers out there would like everyone to believe that we're losing the drug war, we have - not only here but across this country - met President Bush's first step drug-reduction goals," she said.

McDonough cited a survey of Florida high-school students last October that also documented declines in drug use. The survey of more than 8,000 teenagers was rigged with trick questions to detect deception.

Marijuana use was down by 10 percent. The survey revealed some increases in use of hallucinogenic mushrooms, the "date rape" drug GHB and depressants. "Alcohol remains the most resilient drug," McDonough said, with about 31 percent of students saying they had a drink in the preceding 30 days. But that was down 10 percent from 2001.


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