SHUT DOORS TO ILLEGAL PILL MILLS

As lieutenant governor of Florida, part of my responsibilities is
overseeing 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 to families and communities.

As I have met with sheriffs and other law enforcement officers
throughout the state, they have emphasized the need to reduce illicit
drug activity by cutting off the supply of illegal drugs, including
legal prescription drugs used for illegal purposes.

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 can also be
doctors' offices, clinics or health care facilities that routinely
conspire in prescribing and dispensing controlled substances outside
the scope of standard medical practices, 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 alone, 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. 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 - quickly - to stop the tidal wave of
prescription-drug-related crime, addiction and death.

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 resources and develop a coordinated
plan of action.

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. The future depends on it.