SHUT DOWN THE PILL MILLS

As lieutenant governor of Florida, I oversee the Governor's Office of Drug
Control. Together with the Statewide Drug Policy Advisory Council, we use a
three-pronged statewide strategy of prevention, treatment and law
enforcement to limit the devastation in Florida's families and communities
caused by substance abuse.

Sheriffs and law enforcement officers I have met throughout the state
emphasize the need to reduce illicit drug activity by cutting off the
supply of illegal drugs, including legal prescription drugs used for
illegal purposes. An average of six Floridians die each day from a
prescription drug overdose -- five times as many deaths as from all illegal
drugs combined. In fact, the number of drug overdose deaths in Florida
increased by 77 percent from 2003 to 2008, and each one involved at least
one prescription drug.

Often the illegal prescription drug of choice is oxycodone, a very strong
narcotic commonly prescribed to relieve moderate to severe pain. Nearly all
of the top 50 prescribers of oxycodone in the United States are located in
Florida.

At the heart of this scourge are so-called "pill mills," which are often
advertised as "pain clinics." However, pill mills also can be doctors'
offices, clinics or health care facilities that routinely conspire in
prescribing and dispensing controlled substances outside the scope of
standard medical practice, or otherwise violate prescription-drug laws.

These so-called pain clinics have sprung up at alarming rates. Every three
days, a new one opens in Broward and Palm Beach counties, according to a
recent Broward County grand jury report. In the last six months of 2008,
such clinics dispensed nearly 9 million doses of oxycodone in South Florida
- -- the equivalent of more than two doses for every man, woman and child in
Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Those who own and operate pill mills have no medical interest in actually
treating pain or other medical conditions. Rather, they push pills simply
for greed, similar to more "traditional" drug dealers.

Florida's pill mills are now the primary source of the unchecked flood of
painkillers and anti-anxiety medications that fuel a large percentage of
drug-related crime, addiction, hospitalizations and overdoses in our state.
But this flood of diverted drugs doesn't stop at our state's boundaries;
Florida's pill mills supply huge amounts of prescription drugs to other
states, such as Kentucky and West Virginia.

To stem this flood and safeguard Florida's future health and safety, Gov.
Charlie Crist signed legislation last year creating the Prescription Drug
Monitoring Program. This legislation lays the groundwork for regulatory
oversight of pain clinics. While this law is an important tool in the fight
against prescription drug diversion, more must be done -- and done quickly
- -- to stop the tidal wave of prescription-drug-related crime, addiction and
death.

Gov. Crist and I remain committed to doing everything possible to protect
Floridians, as well as our fellow Americans, from unscrupulous pill pushers
and criminals who profit from prescription drug diversion.

Individuals running criminal enterprises must be prosecuted to the fullest
extent of the law. To aid our efforts, I will be leading an interagency
Statewide Prescription Drug Task Force of local, state, and federal law
enforcement officials, state agencies and medical associations that will
combine their resources and develop a coordinated plan of action during the
coming months to crack down on pill mills throughout the state.

Too many Floridians have lost their lives because of prescription drug
abuse. We must take action at all levels to eliminate criminal pill mill
enterprises throughout Florida and protect the quality of life that we hold
so dear in the Sunshine State. Florida's future depends on it.