Report: Prescriptions up in 118 of 120 counties

FRANKFORT — The rate of prescriptions issued for controlled substances increased in all but two of Kentucky’s 120 counties between 2005 and 2007, according to a new report released Wednesday.

Five Kentucky counties — Clinton, Magoffin, Whitley, Bell and Owsley — averaged more than four prescriptions per resident for controlled substances, such as narcotic pain medication, according to the Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics in the Commonwealth for 2007.

The drug data was collected through Kentucky’s prescription tracking system, called the Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Electronic Reporting System, or KASPER.

The same report showed that all drug arrests had increased by nearly 30 percent from 2005 to 2007.

Gov. Steve Beshear said after a news conference on Wednesday that he was concerned about the continued abuse of prescription drugs.

“It’s an ongoing problem and ongoing issue,” Beshear said. “We certainly haven’t solved it. And I want to continue to look for other ways that we can cut down on both the abuse of prescription drugs as well as illegal drugs.”

The rate of prescriptions dispensed for controlled substances increased by 20 percent in 32 counties from 2006 to 2007, the study showed. Carroll and Hancock counties had the highest rates of increase at nearly 42 percent for Carroll County and 54 percent for Hancock County.

Meanwhile, the number of prescription drug-related court cases increased 22 percent between 2003 and 2007, the report found. In 2007, there were 7,136 prescription-drug related cases in the court system, a five-year high.

Law enforcement officials — particularly those in Eastern Kentucky — have been on the front-lines of the battle against abuse of prescription drugs for more than a decade. Operation UNITE Director Karen Engle said the increase in the dispense of controlled substances shows “that no community is immune to the growing problem of prescription drug abuse.”

Operation UNITE, or the Unlawful Narcotics Investigation, Treatment and Education, is a multi-regional drug task force in central and Eastern Kentucky.

Engle said that many believe abuse of prescription drugs, such as OxyContin, is safer than street drugs, such as cocaine. “In reality, we see people die from prescription abuse on a weekly, if not daily, basis,” he said.

In 2008, the latest year that statistics are available, more people died of methadone overdoses than any other drug. Of the 485 deaths, methadone — a painkiller that is also given to treat narcotic withdrawal — was detected in 144 overdose victims. OxyContin was the second most detected substance, statistics show.

Van Ingram, the executive director of the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy, said the state is trying to increase awareness of the KASPER system among those that prescribe narcotics.

The state has 14,000 health professionals who can prescribe medication, but only 27 percent have accounts with KASPER. However, some of those 14,000 professionals include veterinarians and others who do not prescribe controlled substances.

“We have a model system here that doesn’t do any good if practitioners don’t use it and use it on a regular basis,” Ingram said.

The Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics also showed other criminal trends:

• In 2007, the adult arrest rate for violent crimes such as murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, auto theft and arson were higher than the national average. The arrest rates for murder, rape, burglary and arson in Kentucky were more than twice the national average.

• The number of women in the state’s prison population has increased by 57 percent from 2003 to 2007.

• Much of the state’s prison population includes repeat offenders. In 2007, 91 percent of prison admissions were returned parole violators.

– Beth Musgrave

Filed Under: KY Courts • State Government