10/04/2007
from the Kennebec Journal
Sport of Kings
New Medicaid billing system inspires doubts among some
Christmas spirit
Guidance counselor: Dismiss complaint based on criticism of same-sex marriage
CHELSEA: 'Practice burn' provides thrill for 9-year-old
Trust eyes orchard purchase
GOLFER OF THE YEAR: Bonenfant rises up Cony ranks
YOUTH SOCCER: Local team gives 'care package' to children in Afghanistan
All of today's:
News | Sports
from the Kennebec Journal
from the Morning Sentinel
YES ON 1 BACKER REBUTS CLAIM
New system for Medicaid payments worries providers
After petition drive, Clinton police force budget will go a third time before voters
A rock musician makes trip home via Black Taxi
MADISON: After revaluation, abatement requests reviewed
Parks to have facelift
GOLFER OF THE YEAR: Sweet does job for Madison
YOUTH SOCCER: Local team gives 'care package' to children in Afghanistan
All of today's:
News | Sports
from the Morning Sentinel
The Prescription Drug Diversion Program notifies pharmacies, doctor's offices, emergency rooms and health-care workers about people who have been summonsed, arrested or convicted for possession, distribution and/or sale of prescription drugs and hard drugs such as cocaine and heroin.
Monthly, the Waterville Police Department will mail lists of those offenders, including their photographs, age and crime information, to health professionals in the area.
Think of it as a registry of drug addicts, similar to the state's registry of sex offenders.
Police Chief Joseph Massey conceived and developed the idea for the program, which covers Waterville, Winslow, Oakland and Fairfield.
The idea is to reduce the number of prescription drugs diverted from legitimate use to illegal use and sale, according to Massey.
He said one of the fastest-growing areas of illegal drug use over the last decade has involved prescription drugs.
"It really has become a huge issue and I don't think we go more than a couple of days without an offense with prescription drugs involved," Massey said.
Robert Schwartz, executive director of the Maine Chiefs of Police Association, says he has never heard of a similar program in Maine.
"It sounds like a decent program," Schwartz said Wednesday.
Schwartz said when he was police chief in South Portland several years ago, police trained pharmacists in what to look for when people sought drugs. Police issued telephone numbers for pharmacists to call if they suspected someone was trying to obtain drugs illegally, but that program did not go so far as to give information to health care professionals, he said.
Massey said prescription drugs are readily available to people, particularly teenagers who get them from family members and friends.
"There was a recent overdose that resulted in a death -- the death of a young woman," Massey said.
Over the last couple of months, Massey has held meetings with area police chiefs, prosecutors in the District Attorney's Office, pharmacists and doctors, including emergency room physicians, to determine how best to gather and disseminate information about people involved in prescription drug offenses.
Both Massey and Deputy Police Chief Charles J. Rumsey IV say the fact sheets are just another tool or resource for pharmacists and others to help them determine whether someone seeking drugs is legitimate. Ultimately, health care professionals are the ones who make decisions about whether someone should receive drugs, they said.
"The first mailings will go out today, so they should receive them by the end of the week," Massey said.
Rumsey said area police departments and the District Attorney's Office will regularly issue Waterville police prescription drug offender information so that the lists may be updated.
"The Sheriff's Department also will provide us with information on people they have charged in this particular area," he said.
He and Massey noted that it is legal to issue information about a person's arrest or conviction to health care professionals since it is a matter of public record.
Amy Calder -- 861-9247
acalder@centralmaine.com
Reader comments
Sort by: Oldest First | Newest first
Drug seeking behavior is not hard to spot, you just have to know where to look. The majority of people are legitimately seeking relief of their pain. They don't deserve to be suspect because these addicts and dealers can't live a normal life. report abuse
I say we are making it difficult and sometimes impossible because it’s the older people who often get their pain medication stolen by grandchildren and other family members or low level care providers. This puts the older person on the “list” of suspect people and causes the doctor to avoid replacing the stolen medication.
I’ve had a family member in that situation and it makes you mad that the person who needs the medication often goes without because the care provider, sometimes a nurse or other trusted person is diverting the drugs and because the doctor is getting so afraid of being placed on some police “watch list” that he won’t replace medication that has been stolen, and why?
It seems we as a society are putting the cart before the horse and doing more to protect the dirt bag stealing the drugs and killing themselves than we are of protecting the patient and the doctor who are each not at fault but are being caught up in what is increasingly becoming a big drug enforcement business.
The big business in drug enforcement is all the money that goes to special cops, lawyers, prosecutors and jails, each with some profit motive. Why not just let the idiots that steal the drugs and kill themselves rid us as a society of the problem naturally?
Just as prohibition, this way of doing things is not working, why not try another approach? Maybe spending all that taxpayer money on education and treatment will do more to “save” the dirt bag than all the big expensive and intrusive“legal enforcement business” in the world.
report abuse
Show all 10 comments
You must be a registered user of MaineToday.com to post a comment. Register or log in.