Authorities and legislators in Florida are grappling with the state's snowballing problem with illicit pain pill trafficking and abuse. Some experts posit that south Florida's high concentration of pain clinics and doctors may be the foundation of the problem. Other experts point to Florida's lag in developing sufficient prescription monitoring procedures in comparison to other states in the region.

With the introduction of OxyContin to Appalachia in the 1990s, several states reacted quickly, developing procedures for tracking the writing and filling of OxyContin and other similar medications. However, Florida, with an entrenched focus on battling cocaine use, failed to keep pace.

The growth of the problem is clear: Fatal overdoses involving oxycodone, the main component in brand-name pain killers OxyContin, Roxicet and Percocet, increased 20 percent from 2007 to 2008 in Broward and Palm Beach counties, according to state authorities. Last year, the two counties had 221 oxycodone-related overdose deaths. Last month, Governor Charlie Crist signed legislation aimed at regulating pain clinics more effectively.

(Source: www.sun-sentinel.com)

Labels: drug-abuse, OxyContin, painkillers, prescription-drug-abuse