ACTION ON FLORIDA DRUG ABUSE, FINALLY

Gov. Rick Scott has wisely retreated from his uninformed attempt to
kill a statewide prescription drug database. After months of
opposition, his Department of Health has signaled it will follow the
law and work with a chosen vendor to build the database for certain
powerful narcotics. That is an important step toward ending Florida's
reputation as the premier destination for narcotic tourism.

As soon as midsummer, Florida should join 34 other states that
already have databases for drugs such as oxycodone and Xanax. The
databases track a prescription's author, dispenser and recipient to
try to thwart patients who obtain multiple prescriptions for drugs
that can then be sold illegally. Law enforcement officers will have
access to the information only if they already have a person under
investigation.

To be sure, there are flaws in the database law. For example,
pharmacists have 15 days to enter information and doctors are not
required to search it before writing a prescription. But it is a
significant beginning. Officials from across the eastern United
States, most notably Kentucky, have urged Florida to move ahead,
complaining that illegal supplies in their states are directly linked
to the Sunshine State.

Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, and Attorney
General Pam Bondi of Tampa deserve credit for standing firm on
implementing the database two years after it was approved by the
Legislature. Together with longtime backer Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New
Port Richey, they have been among the voices of reason in Tallahassee.

Scott, in his 2011-12 budget recommendation in February, had proposed
doing away with the database, which was then stalled by a vendor bid
protest. He claimed expense was an issue, though the $1 million cost
was being shouldered by private donations. Ultimately House Speaker
Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, joined Scott in citing vague privacy
concerns -- even though Scott had no such concerns last month when he
ordered mandatory drug tests for new state employees under his
control and random drug screens for 100,000 state workers.

Those on the front line of Florida's prescription drug abuse epidemic
- -- law enforcement and the medical community -- were united in urging
Scott to let the database go forward. Now the challenge for them, as
well as for Haridopolos, Bondi and Fasano, will be to continue to
hold the line against other attacks on smart policy crafted in the
last two years.

Cannon has signaled a willingness to undo regulations passed last
year to further regulate pain management doctors and clinics. And HB
7095, sponsored by Rep. Robert Schenck, R-Spring Hill, recently
proposed new regulation on all but the biggest national pharmacy
chains. Such an idea appears both unwarranted and unfair to small business.

Prescription drug abuse causes an average of seven deaths a day in
Florida. A database won't directly prevent such deaths, but it will
give the medical community and law enforcement one more tool to fight
this scourge that is killing Floridians, devastating families and
taxing our communities. That is progress, even if it was a long time coming.