ALARMS AS 10,000 TAKE LEGAL DRUGS

More than 10,000 South Australians including 5000 children taking
amphetamines are receiving prescription drugs of dependence.

The number of people on these legal drugs far exceeds the estimated 5500
heroin addicts in SA, the Human Services Minister, Mr Brown, said yesterday.

He told a parliamentary estimates committee hearing that people were "doctor
shopping" seeing more than 15 GPs in one year and receiving more than 50
scrips for prescription drugs.

They were then either selling these prescriptions or the dispensed medicines
to create cocktails with illicit drugs such as heroin. Mr Brown said about
1000 people were "doctor shopping" in the State. "We hear a lot about
illegal drugs but there is now evidence of a very substantial increase in
the use and misuse of prescription drugs," he said.

He said of the 10,000 people, 2000 were on the methadone program, 3000 were
receiving opioids for malignancies and pain control while a further 5000
were children receiving amphetamines for attention deficit disorder.

The 5000 children compared with just 60 children undergoing such treatment
in 1991.

"That is an alarming increase and accounts for approximately 2.3 per cent of
children in SA between the ages of five and 18," Mr Brown said.

He said health authorities were developing guidelines to deal with the
"rapid rise" in diagnosis.

The State president of the Australian Medical Association, Dr Rod Pearce,
said he was not surprised by the attention deficit disorder prescriptions.

"It is complex disorder and with a lack of support there is an increased
chance of overdiagnosing and that is happening with pain relief also," he said.

"There is also a terrible tracking system which means that I can't keep a
track of what another doctor may have prescribed and that leads to an
increased likelihood of an increase in number of people receiving drugs."

Mr Brown said the number of dependent drug prescriptions had increased from
7000 a month in 1992 to 18,000 a month in October 1998.