WEB DRUGS SEIZED UNDER NEW LAW FLORIDA PHARMACY FAILED TO REGISTER

Enforcing a new Internet drug law for the first time, the Kentucky Bureau
of Investigation has seized packages containing 10,000 painkiller pills at
a FedEx center in Lexington.

The hydrocodone pills -- with an estimated street value of more than
$100,000 -- came from a Florida Internet pharmacy that is unlicensed in
Kentucky, Attorney General Greg Stumbo said yesterday.

"These drugs would have been sold on our streets," said Stumbo, whose
office directs the KBI. "Addicts would have been crushing them, snorting
them, or dissolving them in water and injecting them like heroin."

The pills, seized this week, were headed to homes and other package centers
across Kentucky, all for cash on delivery, he said. Stumbo declined to
identify the Internet pharmacy, citing the ongoing investigation, but he
said Florida authorities are involved in the case.

No charges have been filed.

Stumbo said the seized drugs were "probably not more than one or two days'
worth of shipments. So if you magnify that over the scope of Kentucky,
literally, we don't know how many billions of dollars worth of these drugs
come in."

But the new law allowing authorities to seize such shipments has a
"chilling effect ... that the pharmacy lost a sale and lost the value of
the drugs," he said.

Stumbo said people who ordered the drugs without a valid prescription could
be charged.

But Stumbo spokeswoman Vicki Glass said the investigation will focus more
on the drug supplier than on intended recipients.

"Elimination of one distributor stops hundreds of shipments across
Kentucky," she said.

The law that took effect last month allows Kentucky to prosecute Internet
pharmacies based in other states that ship drugs into Kentucky without
registering with the state Board of Pharmacy. They also are required to
report to the state's prescription-monitoring program.

Since the law took effect, Stumbo said, some unlicensed Internet pharmacies
refuse to ship to Kentucky out of fear of prosecution. Charges carry up to
20 years in prison.

Glass said the Web sites of some pharmacies have begun blocking orders to
Kentucky.

According to Stumbo, a tip from employees at the Lexington FedEx center
sparked the investigation.

In one instance, he said, employees told KBI agents that a woman who came
to pick up a package containing Lortab said the medicine was for her
3-year-old daughter.

In another instance, center sorters became suspicious about packages that
lacked a label indicating the shipper was registered with the state, Stumbo
said.

"Just imagine if a 3-year-old is named in the order of illegal drugs that
come into our state by her pregnant and addicted mother," Stumbo said.
"That's the reality of drug abuse in this state."

Sandra Munoz, a FedEx spokeswoman, said the company is cooperating with
investigations of illegal drug shipments.

"We don't tolerate the use of our global system for illegal activities,"
she said.

Sidebar

HYDROCODONE

A highly addictive painkiller, hydrocodone is the most commonly abused
prescription drug in Kentucky, according to the attorney general's office.
Here is some information about the drug:

Most frequently prescribed opiate in the United States, with more than 110
million prescriptions dispensed in the nation in 2003.

Kentucky ranks third nationally in per-capita use.

Kentucky consumption per person is twice the national average.

A 20- to 40-year-old female is the most likely abuser.

Source: Kentucky attorney general's office