Opposing view:

GOAL IS TO HALT ABUSE

The Bush administration, working with the medical community, is
responding to the threat of the diversion and abuse of controlled
substances (particularly narcotic painkillers) that cause addiction in
adults and, increasingly, in young people. Our initiatives are crafted
carefully to do three things: protect our communities by stopping
abuse, direct abusers to treatment and help the medical practice keep
these drugs accessible and safe for those who need them.

The threat is not minor. Prescription drug abuse is the second largest
illicit drug problem in America -- only marijuana is more widely
abused. In fact, 6.2 million Americans reported abuse of these drugs
last year, while one in 10 high school seniors admitted abuse of a
single brand of prescription narcotic: Vicodin. The number of people
abusing OxyContin has doubled every year since we first asked the
question on national surveys and now is approaching the number who
have abused heroin -- while the addictive potential is comparable.

Our response includes state-level prescription monitoring and
electronic tracking systems that alert doctors and pharmacies to those
who acquire drugs through fraud, "doctor shopping" or unscrupulous
pill mills that hand over narcotics without even a doctor's
examination. We also are forcefully responding to the illegitimate use
of the Internet to traffic drugs to families. Fears of a misdirected
"crackdown" are groundless.

Few physicians face law-enforcement scrutiny. Last year, out of nearly
1 million physicians licensed to prescribe controlled substances, 50
were arrested: 0.005%. They were engaged in practices such as trading
drugs for sex or selling multiple prescriptions for cash without any
medical treatment. For those addicted, the response will be drug
treatment, not punishment.

An educated medical community will support our efforts, knowing that
abusers will be given help and that legitimate prescribing practices
will be vindicated by careful records more easily maintained. The
effect will be to liberate physicians who today fear being entrapped
by manipulative addicts, letting them prescribe appropriate medical
treatment (including pain management) more confidently to real patients.

Combining education, monitoring and enforcement will enhance good
medical practice and protect more from addiction.

John P. Walters is director of the White House Office of National Drug
Control Policy.