Porter seeks study on disposal of drugs

In the past six months, the number of prescription drug overdoses in Clark County has climbed 300 percent from the same time period a year earlier.

And, according to the latest national data on drug use, 14 percent of people age 18 to 25 in Nevada report misusing a prescription drug, namely pain relievers such as OxyContin and hydrocodone.

The national average is a little more than 12 percent.

On Monday, Congressman Jon Porter announced legislation he hoped would reverse the national trend. The legislation would require federal agencies to study how people can dispose of unused prescription drugs before they get into the hands of children or an addict.

"We're going to take a look at the abuse and the epidemic,'' the Nevada Republican said as he spoke to a group of Nevada State College students in Henderson.

"We need to look at how our loved ones are taking advantage of the system by doctor shopping and pharmacy shopping. Also, a lot of families really don't know what to do with prescription drugs once they are finished with them. Some people throw then in the garbage. Some throw them down the toilet and sink. Many times, they are just left around where children can get to them.''

Also speaking about the issue Monday were Kent Bitsko, executive director of the Nevada High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program; Scott Burns, deputy White House drug czar; and Dottie Whitaker, a Henderson resident who lost her 40-year-old daughter to a prescription drug overdose in 2005.

Whitaker thinks a nationwide prescription-monitoring program would reduce prescription drug addiction.

"Nevada has one of the best programs (prescription-monitoring programs), but our doctors are not required to use it,'' she said.

"What I am asking for is that it becomes a requirement of our doctors. Before they write a narcotic prescription, they check to see what other medications their patient has received. ... It is a clear record that goes back one year. It certainly would help the doctors catch the addiction early so that it can save a life.''

Bitsko agreed. Just about daily people are undermining their physicians by going to a pharmacist or another physician to get a new prescription, and sometimes at higher doses, he said.

"The bigger problem is that young people see their parents using these drugs and most of the time in a proper way,'' he said. "I don't think they (parents) understand how dangerous their prescription drugs can be.''

Porter's legislation also directs the U.S. attorney general, the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy and the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to look at take-back programs and whether they work.

Such programs allow patients to return their unused prescription drugs back to a pharmacy.

The legislation calls for looking at ways to dispose of prescription drugs without harming the environment.

"The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has done many studies on this,'' he said. "Many times these drugs kill helpful bacteria. They get into our plant life and water system.''

Matt Leffingwell, Porter's press secretary, said the legislation is scheduled to be introduced to Congress when it reconvenes later this month.