AGENTS GET SCRIPT TO TRACK DRUGS

As prescription drug abuse continues to increase nationwide,
Oklahoma's drug agents are expanding their ability to track the sale
of popular but addictive medications.

Forged prescriptions, teenagers bringing prescription drugs to school
and a rise in deaths from the abuse of controlled drugs have become a
societal plague, officials said.

Changes are occurring.

"We started back in 1990 putting together a prescription monitoring
system for category two drugs, which is the highest level of drugs,
such as codeine or morphine," said Mark Woodward, spokesman for the
Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs.

"Over time, so many new categories of drugs have surfaced and become
more sought after by drug-dependent people, such as Hydrocodone ...
that we have had a hard time tracking them."

As the number of prescription drugs has increased, he said, so has
the number of abusers.

According to a 214-page report released Thursday by the National
Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, more
Americans abuse prescription medications than cocaine, hallucinogens,
inhalants and heroin combined.

From 1992 to 2003, the report shows, teen abuse of prescription
drugs jumped 212 percent, while adult abuse rose 81 percent. The
number of Americans abusing prescription drugs increased seven times
faster than the increase in the country's population.

At least 15 million Americans are believed to be misusing
prescription medications.

Oklahoma drug agents are hoping an expansion of their prescription
drug tracking system, which already is under way, will help them
better fight the problem, Woodward said.

In 2004, lawmakers approved the expansion, Woodward said, and the
drug bureau has obtained a federal grant to help.

The expanded system will track all categories of prescription drugs,
Woodward said, but only will alert authorities about suspicious activity.

"This computer, it has specific criteria that will send up a red flag."

One of the main prescription drug abuses the system should detect is
so-called "doctor-shopping," he said.

"Someone who is addicted to painkillers, for example, they'll often
go to four or five different doctors and get four or five different
prescriptions, then go to four or five different pharmacies and get
them filled -- sometimes every day," Woodward said.

Often, the drugs are then resold, he said, with some selling
illegally for as much as $50 a pill.

Blame for the problem, state officials said, can be spread around.

"The issue boils down to the ease at which individuals can obtain
prescription medications today," said Phil Woodward, executive
director of the Oklahoma Pharmaceutical Association.

"Physicians are bombarded by their patients on a daily basis
requesting various prescription medications. Most physicians are
under a great deal of pressure from patients to give them what they
want instead of what they need.

"The majority of physicians in this country are very responsible, but
there always are a few who would rather write Rxs for their patients
than just say no to them."