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| Town's OxyContin Buyers to Be Fingerprinted |
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Posted by FoM on July 10, 2001 at 21:45:57 PT By Josh White, Washington Post Staff Writer Source: Washington Post 
Patients in the small southwest Virginia town of Pulaski will have to provide fingerprints at the area's six pharmacies to get OxyContin as part of a novel law enforcement effort to curb widespread abuse of the prescription painkiller.Pulaski police are planning to meet with pharmacists next week to show them how to use a chemical fingerprinting system that employs invisible ink to "sign" documents for authenticity. Patients will be asked to leave their fingerprint signature on prescription papers so police can track cases of fraud. Police hope the technology, regularly used to prevent payroll fraud and for cashing checks, will stem the increasing number of fake prescriptions for OxyContin. Police will be able to use the fingerprints to ferret out suspects and link them to illegal transactions. The system is not used anywhere else for prescription drugs except Louisiana, where doctors use it for several sensitive narcotics. "Anything that will stop the flow onto the streets we'll be happy with," said Detective Marshall Dowdy of the Pulaski police. "This is a seemingly never-ending battle." OxyContin, which comes in a time-release pill and is similar to morphine, has emerged as one of the most widely abused drugs throughout Appalachia. It has been linked to at least 43 deaths in southwest Virginia since 1997 and has been blamed for significant rises in crime -- from fraud and theft to violence and murder -- throughout the region. Pain patients who rely on OxyContin for relief consider it a miracle drug, but abusers are drawn to the pills' purity and availability. They crush the pills and snort them or inject them for a euphoric, heroin-like high. Purdue Pharma, the Stamford, Conn.-based manufacturer of OxyContin, supports the fingerprinting as long as it is applied to all controlled substances and is not limited to OxyContin. Company officials believe singling out OxyContin will simply lead criminals to go to other pharmacies or abuse other potent prescription drugs. "Any identification technology that does not discriminate against patients or stigmatize them will be a valuable aid to reduce prescription fraud and aid law enforcement in their investigations," said J. David Haddox, senior medical director for health policy at Purdue Pharma. "There's no question in my mind that there are instances now where patients are being under-treated or quite frankly don't have access to this drug when this drug is what works best for them. And that's an absolute tragedy." Pulaski officials said the fingerprinting would begin only with OxyContin prescriptions, but could be expanded later. To make the print, a patient swipes an index finger across a pad, picking up an invisible chemical. The patient then places the same finger on a treated paper sticker, which almost immediately displays a blue, smudge-proof print. During investigations, police can scan the print and compare it with local and national databases, as if it had been taken with ink. Abuse of OxyContin has been creeping onto the streets of Northern Virginia and has popped up in urban areas across the country. Northern New Jersey and the Boston area have recently seen waves of abuse and crime related to OxyContin, while Florida has experienced a steady rise. Pulaski police said they had more than 1,800 drug-related crimes in the first six months of the year -- almost one crime for every five people in the town -- most of which were connected to OxyContin. Dowdy, who came up with the idea after seeing a similar system for validating checks at a local grocery store, said the fingerprinting won't be an "end-all solution" to the problem but could make at least a small dent. "It's horrible, and I don't know if it can get any worse here," Dowdy said. "We're at least willing to try." Note: Pulaski Pharmacies Plan to Use Invisible-Ink System in Police-Led Battle Against Abuse of Painkiller. Source: Washington Post (DC) Related Articles: Illegal Sale, Use Of a Painkiller Alarms Officials Va. Police Fear Rise Of New Drug Use of Painkiller Grows Quickly, Along With Abuse Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #4 posted by greenfox on July 11, 2001 at 07:34:42 PT |
Media circus First and foremost, oxys were never abused before the media decided to make it the next "scare drug". What with crack cocaine exposed like it has been, the media circus needs a new "threat" so that they can (you guessed it) sell papers. Not rolling papers, although it would be nice if the newspapers today doubled as rolling papers. We'd at least have some use for the otherwise nonstop propaganda machine called the "media". Around here, a Plain Dealer is 35 cents. In my opinion, it isn't worth a tenth of that. I've written several letters to the editor but needless to say their editor prints "select" articles; articles that meet his boss's standards, (or should I say Uncle Sam's standards). Well, let me sum it all up with two pretty basic and well-made points: First, oxys are not dangerous (per say). Yes, they can be abused, and yes they will f*ck you up. I've enjoyed the occasional recreational painkiller, and it's my experience that oxys are not the best out there. Nowadays, it's strictly green, but back in my youthful days of pill popping, oxys were easy to come by. They still are. The only thing that makes this "finger printing" of any real value to the cops is so that they can arrest anyone caught selling their own prescriptions. And the basic premise is still there, (weather it's oxys or marijuana or crack), and that being: if someone wants it bad enough, they'll get it. However, the media isn't helping this situation at all. In Cleveland, there have actually been robberies because people who once knew NOTHING of the drug now think they can waltz in a pharmacy, rob them at gun point, and steal oxys to sell for 10 bucks a piece. Why? Because the friggin' NEWSPAPERS say that's what it's worth. Want to know the REAL irony of the whole damn thing? If someone REALLY wanted oxys, they could have the source of the drug very easily. Contrary to popular belief, ALL varieties of Papaver are psychoactive, not just Papaver Somerniferum var. gigantium. Why do I know so much about this? We won't go there, (strictly green nowadays, folks,) but I can say that any garden store carries SOME variety of poppies. About four or five ripe bulbs will have (relatively speaking) the same effect as one oxy 20mg pill. Amazing, isn't it? And finally, if someone REALLY wanted to make money, they should be stealing deludes and marinols. My girlfriend has Chron's disease, and she takes marinol. WITH her insurance, it still turns out to be over 10 bucks for one pill. And deludes, (deladas, actually,) are PURE morphine. So anyone interested in the poppy painkilling family would SURELY steal a more powerful drug, right? Of COURSE NOT. Because the media circus isn't warning people of widespread "delude" or "marinol" abuse. And finally, what really gets me is the basic underlying fundamental rights that EVERYONE should have regarding medicines and putting POISONS in their body. YES, all drugs are POISON no matter how benign they may seem. Even pot, (but don't jump all over me for that comment, my fellow dopers,) because it IS true: pot isn't healthy. It may not be AS unhealthy as alcohol or tobacco, but people it's not vitamin c. The point? The point is: regarding poisons we should be able to ingest what we will, at our own behest. If someone wanted to drink gasoline, (surely poisons), then they have every available right, (and outlet), to do so. So what's the different with OTHER poisons? Why should they be any more or less restricted? I believe all drugs should be controlled and made available, including crack and heroin. Do I endorse the use of the latter? Of course not. Should people be prohibited from shooting smack, so long as they don't hurt others? Of course not. Should people have to go to a PHARMACY to get their poisons, only if a DOCTOR thinks its right? OF COURSE NOT. Or, as Dale Pendell would say, "we still carry the snake". Oh, wondrous poisons!!
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| Comment #3 posted by Rambler on July 11, 2001 at 05:47:52 PT |
| I know what you mean. More people die from HOT DOGS! Check out this wonderfully disgusting report. http://commondreams.org/views01/0710-08.htm [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by sm247 on July 11, 2001 at 05:39:18 PT |
| 43 deaths in the last 4 YEARS isth is a freakin joke ?? This is reason to take away Americans Freedom of CHOICE ???? More people died last year takin a crap on the toilet maybe we should ban commodes too ??? Huh Commrade ??? This crime thing we learned in the 20's that is a result of PROHIBITION and BLACK MARKET geee and these people have a college education huh will America last through WWW3 ?? [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #1 posted by fixjxua on July 11, 2001 at 00:43:47 PT:
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| "Anything that will stop the flow onto the streets we'll be happy with," said Detective Marshall Dowdy of the Pulaski police. "This is a seemingly never-ending battle." Not "seemingly never-ending" but literally never-ending. The only way the battle is going to cease to exist is when it's called off. Not when it's "won" [ Post Comment ] |
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