Lexington, KY - Though Lexington is yet to see the dramatic increase in prescription drug abuse prevalent elsewhere around the nation and in parts of the Commonwealth, the Lexington Division of Police has stepped up efforts to keep the trend at bay.
With the help of the Fayette County Mayor's Alliance on Substance Abuse, Commander Ken Armstrong and the Lexington Police rolled out the Drug Diversion Reduction Program sending packets of materials including posters to display to 2,100 doctors and pharmacists in Fayette County.
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"To the best of our knowledge there's no other program or posters or stickers or anything like this in the state of KentuckyÖ The (Attorney General's) Office has given us the opinion that nothing like this is happening the state right now and we're not even sure any of our neighboring states have it. So we look at it as not only being proactive, but innovative," Armstrong told .
The program is aimed at educating doctors, their staff and pharmacy workers to the ways of 'doctor shoppers' and acting as a deterrent to those who might seek out prescriptions they don't need or doctors who may consider writing unnecessary prescriptions for prescription drugs like Oxycontin, valium and Percocet.
"(Doctors and pharmacists) don't want that element of individuals in their offices, not only because of a criminal aspect, but also there's liability, civil issues that may arise for something like that. By providing their employees this training, this will insulate them from any kind of issue that may arise in the future," Armstrong said about the program.
Last year the Lexington Division of Police seized an all time record of illegally diverted prescription drugs, 75,000 doses with a street value of almost $2 million, according to Armstrong. Though not to the extent seen in other areas Lexington's size, that amount is one of the reasons the Division of Police has instituted this program to keep Lexington from becoming a hotbed for abuse like other areas have.
"We don't have the issues that some of the states further south like Florida have, a number of physicians, especially that may be unscrupulous," and it is hoped that this program will help keep it that way, Armstrong said.
Signs to be posted on a voluntary basis at doctors offices and drugs stores state: "Employees have been asked to immediately report any illegal or suspicious activity related to the use of, sale of, or attempt to illegally obtain prescription medications."
Participants are asked to check photo IDs from all patients or patrons, verify suspicious prescriptions with the prescribing doctor, document suspicious activity and utilize the Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Electronic Reporting (KASPER) system to see a patient's history to connect with previous health care providers if need be.
"Any time that you have an illegal drug situation, in any community, whether it be cocaine, marijuana or illegally diverted prescription medication, the crime rate as a whole goes up," Armstrong said. "There seems to be this belief that prescription medication is more sociably acceptable because you can go to the pharmacy and get itÖ but ultimately the abuse of it has the same affects as the use of cocaine or heroin or methamphetamines," he said. "Those individuals will do anything to obtain the substance, there be violence associated with either trying to purchase it, steal to get the money, burglaries, robberies, things like that."
Anyone interested in receiving a packet who may not have, or would just like another one may contact Armstrong through the Division of Police at 859-258-3600.