Ill-Fated Measures

TRYING TO BAN A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE ISN'T A CURE FOR ABUSE

It's time for political posturing in the West Virginia Legislature; and in
this election year, legislators are posturing for all they're worth.

Earlier this week, the deadline arrived for introducing legislation under
rules for the 60-day regular session, and lawmakers introduced a flurry of
legislation designed to make voters believe they have their best interests
at heart.

The abuse of the drug OxyContin has held a prominent place in statewide
headlines over the past year, and one state senator made sure his
constituents knew of his concern by introducing legislation that would ban
oxycodone, the main ingredient in the drug.

Senate Majority Leader Truman Chafin, D-Mingo, introduced last-day
legislation banning the product, noting that medical costs and addiction
treatments both were on the rise in our state because of misuse of
OxyContin, a direct derivative of the pain-killing drug.

While we have no doubt that abuse of OxyContin remains a problem in our
state and in many others, we believe legislation simply banning the source
product of the drug does nothing to combat the ills that abuse has caused.

There is no argument that abuse of OxyContin is dangerous, perhaps even
life-threatening, especially among young people in our state who have
become addicted to the powerful pain-killer.

Because of the great attention paid to abuses of the drug, it is easy to
overlook the fact that the drug also has great benefits. Its powerful
ability to ease pain has meant days and weeks and months of relief for
patients whose bodies otherwise would be wracked with pain and whose lives
would be filled with suffering.

Do some physicians abuse the ethics of their profession to prescribe
OxyContin knowing that their patients don't really require it? No doubt. Do
some who get OxyContin, then traffic it on the open drug market and take
advantage of the state's youngsters in the process? No doubt.

But neither of those realities is cause for banning the base substance that
creates OxyContin. Neither of those realities justifies taking away a
product that can help sufferers cope with their pain.

If we were to accept Chafin's logic that abuse of a legal substance demands
that it be banned in West Virginia, we'd be looking at many more options
than this one drug, which is consumed by many and abused by a few.

If Chafin's logic holds true, let us also look at banning smokeless
tobacco, which is used in epidemic proportions in West Virginia, yet
continues as an easily available product to anyone over the age of 18 who
wishes to buy it.

If Chafin's logic holds true, let us also ban all-terrain vehicles, which
have killed hundreds of West Virginians in the past decade and will
continue to do so because the Legislature refuses to address the deadly
impact of unregulated use of the vehicles.

Banning the product isn't an answer; it's an admission we can't enforce
laws already in place. Crack down on abuse of OxyContin, but don't
eliminate its base substance from the marketplace.