Do you believe government should play a role in the fight against drug abuse? I certainly think we all need to band together to do our best to keep as many people as possible off of drugs and alcohol.
I always appreciate learning about government bodies looking to help in the fight. As reported in bostonherald.com.
The recent increase in the use and abuse of prescription medication is especially frightening. Communication and the sharing of information are critical to keep excess prescription meds off of the street.
New England governors have agreed to seek stronger cross-border monitoring of prescription painkillers as part of a regional strategy to stem a rising tide of heroin overdoses and abuse of other opioids.
The governors from Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont to discuss ways in which the states can work together to solve an increasingly deadly problem.
It has been shown that at least 140 people died from suspected heroin overdoses in Massachusetts in just the last several months. This is enough to qualify as a public health emergency. Imagine if that many people were dying from the Swine Flu or some other virus.
There's just no doubt that drug abuse can undermine our quality of life.
The governors agreed to set up a system for sharing information among their own states' prescription monitoring programs and, to help stop the practice known as "doctor shopping," make registration of doctors in the programs mandatory across the region.
The problem is that people can easily cross state lines to purchase a supply of prescription painkillers for personal use or to sell on the black market.
Obviously this is not a problem that will be solved overnight. Monitoring systems and educational drug classes will go a long way to helping people make better decisions about drugs.