TRACKING DRUGS

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal merits praise for taking
the initial step to tracking illegal prescriptions and sales of legal
narcotics like the painkiller OxyContin.

Last week, Blumenthal spoke at the State Capitol explaining that his
proposed electronic monitoring system could stop "doctor shopping," a
practice where people illegally go from one doctor to another getting
several prescriptions for the painkiller. If enacted into law, Connecticut
would join 15 other states, including New York, Massachusetts and Rhode
Island, with some kind of prescription monitoring system for controlled
substances.

OxyContin would not be the only painkiller to be tracked, rather other
potentially addictive drugs would also be covered in the tracking system.

There's clearly a need in Connecticut for such tracking. Prescriptions for
legal narcotic pain relievers rose 23 percent in Connecticut from 1996 to
last year while OxyContin rose a whopping 1,800 percent according the
attorney general's office.

Blumenthal's proposed monitoring system appeared to have guarded support
from drug company executives as well as backing from government officials
and patients. We urge the General Assembly to embrace the proposal and take
seriously the problem of illegal drug taking.