FOR RELEASE…
BROMWELL: “WE HAVE TO CURB OBTAINING LEGAL DRUGS ILLEGALLY”
Delegate Eric Bromwell (D. Baltimore County 8th ) urged the Judiciary Committee to approve his bill (HB 60) to establish electronic prescription monitoring of Schedule II controlled dangerous substances (Percodan, Dilaudid, OxyContin, Codeine, Cocaine, Morphine, etc.) dispensed in the state.
Bromwell also asked for Committee approval of HB 64, which
changes the crime of prescription drug forgery from a misdemeanor to a
felony. He stressed that the crime is a
felony in most states, including our neighboring states of
HB 60 requires pharmacies to report data to the Department of Health & Mental Hygiene for each controlled dangerous substance dispensed. The data includes: the patient identifier, the date and amount of the drug dispensed, the prescriber and the dispenser. The data are confidential information and not a public record.
The measure, similar to programs in 18 states, helps identify cases of prescription drug forgery for illegal use of Schedule II drugs. Bromwell noted that “forging prescriptions appears to be the primary way OxyContin, a synthetic form of heroin, and other painkillers are obtained for illegal use or sale. Another way to get drugs illegally is ‘doctor shopping,’ whereby individuals visit many doctors to get prescriptions and then go to several pharmacies to get the prescriptions filled.” The going street price for a single 40-milligram OxyContin pill is $20 to $40. Electronic drug monitoring programs have proven effective in stopping doctor shopping.
According to the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse,
the number of first time nonmedical users of prescription painkillers rose from
554,000 in 1990 to over 2 million in 2000.
According to the federal Drug Enforcement Administration – DEA – there
has been a 1,800% increase in OxyContin prescriptions between 1996 and
2000. Delegate Bromwell noted that the
U.S. Justice Department has pointed to
Bromwell emphasized that the drug monitoring program will
cost $350,900 to get the program up and running and $313,000 to operate in
future years. Compare that cost to the
cost of paying for the wreckage spawned by drug abuse, which includes crime,
unemployment, child abuse, higher welfare and medical care and hospital
costs. “The price of this program pales
before the cost of paying for drug abuse wreckage,” he said. The State of
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