Prescription drug crimes call for new prevention prescription

When discussing drug crimes, it is natural to assume that the drugs to talk about are marijuana, cocaine or heroin. This is a different generation of drug addiction and crime in the country, however, and those drugs are not the root of all drug problems.

According to The Baltimore Sun, more and more people in the city and other, more rural areas in the state are winding up in trouble because of prescription drugs. One drug in particular is reported to be the root of widespread addiction and rampant drug crime in Maryland: Oxycontin.

Sources report that Oxycontin has quickly become a problem among the community. The painkiller is addictive and, therefore, leaves many people – often the young population – desperate to get their hands on the powerful drug. Our source reports that in one day alone in a Harford County court, multiple cases related to Oxycontin went before the judge. An assistant state attorney in Maryland asserts that Oxycontin is the “number one problem drug” in the county.

In a previous post, we discussed the country’s “War on Drugs” and one ex-Baltimore official’s idea that the current system strategies have failed to curb the rate of drug offenses in Baltimore. During the process of the “War on Drugs,” not only has a dent not been made in the rate of more traditional drug crime, but the rate of prescription drug abuse has climbed steeply. The Baltimore Sun reports that the abuse has gone up by 500 percent in 20 years.

Sources suggest that throwing jail time and fines at possession and other drug offenses isn’t cutting it. Many see that preventing addiction is the true key to combating drug problems in the state and throughout the country.

Source

The Baltimore Sun: “Oxycontin in suburbia,” 31 Jul. 2011