ALBANY, NY - The New York State Senate discussed on Monday illegal prescription drug abuse.
According to Senator Hannon, abuse of controlled
prescription drugs is one of New York's
major public health problems and is growing at an alarming rate.
The roundtable featured discussion and input from parents of
victims whose deaths were attributed to prescription drug abuse, stirring
emotions as parents talked about this problem.
Overdose deaths from prescription pain killers have reached
epidemic proportions in the United
States. The Center for Disease Controls and
Prevention report that more people die from prescription drug overdoses than
heroin or cocaine combined.
Senate Majority Leader Dean G. Skelos says, "We are
seeing our young people die from prescription overdoses and others committing
horrific crimes to obtain pain killers. We have to update our laws to prevent
more tragedies from happening and punish those who illegally make these drugs
available."
Prescriptions
for Oxycodone,
Hydrocodone and Tramadol have increased among abused drugs. They are second to
marijuana abuse.
Lawmakers
are consider a number of options to help decrease this issue. Some options
discussed in the meeting were the following:
- Place greater controls on
Hydrocodone and Tramadol, highly addictive prescription pain medications
- Increase criminal penalties
for physicians and pharmacists who illegally divert prescription drugs
- Criminalize the illegal
sale of a controlled substance by a practitioner or pharmacist to address
practitioners operating "pill mills", which fuel the black market for
controlled substance medication
- Criminalize the
first-degree illegal sale of a controlled substance to a minor under the age of
14, making it a Felony
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