Bush policy to target prescription drugs Tracking patients' use key part of new anti-drug effort

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Bush policy to target prescription drugs Tracking patients' use key part of

new anti-drug effort

WASHINGTON (AP) --The Bush administration is pushing for stronger state

monitoring of prescription drug use in a crackdown on the escalating abuse

of sedatives, pain relievers and stimulants.

Under the strategy announced Monday, the government will pay states to help

develop monitoring systems to track patients' drug use. The programs would

flag cases indicating a pattern of abuse, such as " doctor shopping, " where a

patient gets prescriptions for drugs from multiple physicians.

Federal officials also plan to seek out pharmacies that sell controlled

substances illegally over the Internet, which will entail deploying modern

Web-crawler technology. to search out those peddling prescription drugs

online.

The goal, say federal health officials: Reduce illegal drug use by 10

percent in two years and by 25 percent in five years.

" The nonmedical use of prescription drugs has become an increasingly

widespread and serious problem in this country, one that calls for immediate

action, " Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug

Control Policy, said at a news conference.

In addition, the White House is to convene a conference of representatives

from the major professional sports leagues and the U.S. Olympic Committee to

discuss steroid use by athletes. No date yet has been set.

Prescription medicine now ranks second, behind marijuana, among drugs most

abused by adults and young people, according to a report by the drug control

office. Meanwhile, emergency room visits resulting from abuse of narcotic

pain relievers have jumped 163 percent since 1995, it said.

The plan would dedicate about $10 million in federal money to augment

prescription monitoring programs in 20 states and expand them to 11 more

states by next year. Another $138 million would be dedicated toward

physician training and education programs as well as fighting illegal

Internet sales.

Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, which

supports legalizing marijuana for medical use, said Bush's new initiative

will have a chilling effect on doctors.

" The principal impact of this campaign when you step up the law enforcement

response is that doctors will err on the side of undertreating pain, "

Nadelmann said.

Tandy, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, said teenagers are

particularly at risk for prescription drug abuse. It is her agency's job to

crack down on illegal Internet sales, including the flood of spam with the

lure of controlled substances at a low cost.

" Criminals who divert legal drugs into the illegal market are no different

from a cocaine or heroin dealer peddling poisons on the street corner, " she

said. " DEA is aggressively working to put an end to this illicit practice

whether it occurs in doctors' offices or cyberspace. "

About 13.7 percent of teens between the ages of 12 and 17 have abused

prescription drugs at least once. Federal officials also noted a University

of Michigan study that found abuse by high school seniors of Vicodin more

than double the use of cocaine, Ecstasy or methamphetamine.

Bush's niece Noelle was 24 when she was arrested in 2002 on charges of

buying the anti-anxiety drug Xanax with a fake prescription.

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