Chairman Collins Urges Justice Department to Support Prescription Drug Monitoring Grant for Maine WASHINGTON, D.C.—Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Susan Collins (R-ME) today urged the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to fund an electronic prescription monitoring program for Maine, which has experienced a dramatic increase in prescription drug abuse. "Many highly addictive prescription drugs are being diverted from legitimate use to illegal trafficking and abuse. An electronic reporting system will give Maine's medical licensing boards and law enforcement agencies the tools they need to address this growing problem," said Collins, whose committee has oversight of the federal agencies responsible for the regulation of prescription drugs. Collins held a committee hearing in Bangor, Maine earlier this month to call attention to the growing problem of prescription drug abuse and how these medications are diverted from their legitimate purposes. The Maine Office of Substance Abuse applied for a $300,000 federal grant under the DOJ's Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring Program to develop an electronic prescription drug monitoring system for the state. Through a Web-based system, the Office of Substance Abuse hopes to identify individuals who are "doctor shopping" and reduce the amount of prescription drugs obtained through those practices, as well as identify outmoded prescribing practices. Under a bill approved by the Maine Legislature in May, the Office of Substance Abuse was tasked with creating this system, modeled after systems used in 19 other states. Collins noted that while many rural states are experiencing epidemics of prescription drug abuse, no state has been hit harder than Maine. The number of accidental deaths in Maine from all drugs increased six-fold from 1997 to 2002, jumping from 19 to 126. Prescription drugs were present in 60 percent of those deaths last year. According to the 2002 Maine Youth Drug and Alcohol Survey, 25 percent of the state's high school juniors and seniors abuse prescription drugs.
"These statistics are shocking," said Collins. "Addicts are getting younger and admissions for opiate addiction clinics are increasing. It's clear that significant steps must be taken to curb this serious problem, and an electronic monitoring system is a good start." Maine has already done much to address prescription drug fraud, such as mandating the use of tamper-proof prescription pads and increasing penalties for drug traffickers.