The recent implementation of a statewide prescription drug monitoring database created to curb the abuse of prescription drugs in Florida, a state where an average of seven people a day die of prescription drug overdoses, seems to be having some unintended consequences.
The state’s crackdown on so-called “pill-mills” might be thwarting drug abuse in Florida, but elsewhere, the problem is worsening. Nearby Tennessee, in particular, is experiencing a rise in the number of pain clinics and pharmacy robberies.
Via The Mountain Press:
In the last few months, Florida lawmakers cracked down with new laws aimed at stopping that practice. Unfortunately, the result has been the rise of more pain clinics in East Tennessee, and sometimes desperate measures by addicts who are having a harder time getting their drugs.
Robberies at pharmacies have increased, and people who have Oxycontin in their homes have become targets for home invasion robberies.
“While it is said that more criminal activity is now taking place in Tennessee as the writer indicates, it is a testament that Florida’s ongoing efforts to close down pill mills that frequently catered to out-of-state drug seekers are working,” says Greg Giordano, an aide to state Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey. “As the supply of drugs dries up in Florida, those from outside the state will need to go elsewhere. Sen. Fasano’s priority is to make sure that Florida is a safe environment for residents and visitors.”
