MANY DRUG LOOPHOLES INVITE THEFT AND FRAUD

Mail and Internet-ordered prescription drugs in three-month quantities
are left on doorsteps daily, even if the recipients are not home,
leaving the drugs vulnerable to theft.

The customer is afraid to complain or report a theft. The doctor or
the police may think the drugs were received and the patient is trying
to get more.

The police are blamed for "doing nothing." Doctors are blamed for
practicing medicine.

My career was in housing management. There were occasions when tenants
were caught selling prescription drugs that had been paid for by
Medicaid. This goes on frequently. Doctors are lied to. How can they
know? All doctors who have patients with severe chronic pain should
refer them to a pain clinic.

People leave drugs on counters and in bathroom cabinets. When drugs
come up short or missing, they do not know who took them. Prescription
pain drugs from any pharmacy should be counted before the customer
leaves the counter. A couple of pills short on each prescription can
be a source of revenue. This is not a matter of accusing anyone; it is
a matter of closing drug loopholes.

My assortment of drugs contains four different drugs capable of
causing death - heart and blood-pressure meds, muscle relaxers
prescribed for muscle spasms, anti-depressants. People who are hunting
a high will steal and swallow any drug that is handy.

We need to halt the ways drugs are getting on the streets. With Caller
I.D. and tracking of cell phone calls, few people want to risk turning
in drug dealers. Some fear revenge; others do not want to be dragged
into the mess. If there was a means of calling in on a pay phone or
placing information in a secure drop box separate from the police
station, the net would close in on the dealers.

Bernice Tewell

Pass Christian