Prescription Drug Abuse

Editor's note: This is the second of a three-week series looking at crime trends in Nicholasville. Next week: traffic offenses and false alarms While city officials characterize Nicholasville's crime rate as low, like many other communities, it too has its fair share of drug-related crimes. But Nicholasville's main drug problem isn't the more commonly known drugs such as cocaine and marijuana. This area's biggest drug problem, according to Nicholasville police Sgt. Scott Harvey, is prescription-drug abuse.

Sarah Shay was a vibrant young girl with a bright future, according to her mother, Dr. Karen Shay, a Morehead dentist. “She was a great girl,” Dr. Shay told students, faculty and local officials during an assembly in the West Jessamine High School auditorium Thursday morning. “She was probably a lot like most of you,” Dr. Shay said, with voice breaking at times. Sarah Shay died in 2006 at the age of 19 from a prescription-drug overdose, and Dr. Shay was in Jessamine County along with Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway and Kentucky Drug Czar Van Ingram to talk about Kentucky's prescription-drug-abuse epidemic.

Editor's note: This is the first of a two-part series looking at crime in Nicholasville. Next week, the Journal will look at violent crimes, crimes against property and false alarms calls. Crime statistics in the city of Nicholasville haven't changed much in recent years, and police officials credit that fact to enforcement and education. "We haven't seen any trends develop in the last year or so ... things have remained fairly constant," police department spokesperson Officer Scott Harvey said.

Prescription drug abuse is alarmingly high across the nation, and the statistics for Kentucky speak for themselves. According to Kentucky’s attorney general, fatal drug overdoses have doubled over five years and are now the second leading cause of accidental death. Even more troubling is the fact that one in five teens has abused prescription drugs. This is a trend that is shattering lives, and we must address it now. To combat this growing problem, I have reintroduced a bill that would reauthorize a program I originally authored in 2005 known as the National All Schedules Prescription Electronic Reporting Act. Upon enactment, NASPER established a federal program assisting in the creation, improvement or expansion of Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs and for the sharing of prescription data electronically among states.

It would be difficult to find a local elected official in Kentucky who doesn’t recognize prescription drug abuse as a major problem in his or her own community. The facts are staggering. According to the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy: The abuse of prescription pain relievers is now only second to marijuana. From 2006 to 2008, 96 of Kentucky’s 120 counties saw an increase in the rate of prescriptions dispensed for controlled substances. Of those 96 counties, 24 saw a 20 percent increase.

Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway warned students at George Rogers Clark¿High School that they risk their lives and futures if they take medications not prescribed for them by a doctor. “We've lost an entire generation to prescription drug abuse,” Conway told the students Thursday afternoon during an appearance at the school. That's why he's been touring high schools around the state to warn students about the dangers of prescription drug abuse. “The non-medical use of prescription pain relievers among all age groups in Kentucky is down, and for the first time we are below the national average for prescription drug abuse,” Conway said in a press release.

Prescription drug abuse is the kind of problem that impacts everyone, not just people from certain walks of life, or people who live in certain areas. That means, Winchester Mayor Ed Burtner said, everyone needs to be involved in helping find a solution. Burtner was one of five panelists speaking about community responses to prescription drug abuse at Wednesday's Kentucky Prescription Drug Abuse Summit at the University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital in Lexington. “The impact on local communities is startling,” Burtner said.

More than one out of every 10 deaths the Jessamine County coroner investigates involves the abuse of prescription drugs. Since 2009, the coroner's office has investigated a total of 35 drug-related deaths, and county coroner Michael Hughes said the common denominator has been prescription drugs. “Of the 12 drug-related deaths over the last two years (2011 and through July 25, 2012), only one was the result of a nonprescription drug,” Hughes said. “The vast majority are prescription drugs.” Hughes, who has been in office since January 2011, said his statistics are based on those who died within Jessamine County and not people who were transported to Lexington hospitals and died in Fayette County.

The Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure has been on the front line in the fight against prescription drug abuse. Overseeing the licenses of more than 15,000 physicians, we are a key participant in protecting the independence and individual judgments of doctors, while also working to enforce regulations designed to keep doctors and patients safe. We initiated disciplinary proceedings against those physicians who willfully overprescribe controlled substances. We developed advisory opinions on prescribing for chronic pain and partnered with the state to lead educational presentations.

As part of the National Prescription Drug Take-Back Program, the Nicholasville Police Department collected 54 pounds of prescription and over-the-counter drugs Saturday. The NPD had officers stationed at Kroger on South Main Street and Walmart on North Main Street from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. collecting the different medications, officer Kevin Grimes said. Grimes said the 54 pounds was about the average the department has collected in the past. “The last time, we were probably between 50 and 70 pounds, give or take,” Grimes said, adding that the department participates in the Drug Enforcement Administration program twice a year.

Fighting against the pill mill bill To the editor, I am writing to inform you of a recent viewing on WKYT on April 1 regarding “Fight for Kentucky Pain Care Action Network.” We are a group pushing for a revision of House Bill 1 and House Bill 217, related to those whom are suffering from chronic intractable pain. As it is now, cancer, elderly and hospice patients can receive the treatment they need for pain. Our group is ecstatic that we are partially responsible for these revisions.

Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway warned students at George Rogers Clark¿High School that they risk their lives and futures if they take medications not prescribed for them by a doctor. “We've lost an entire generation to prescription drug abuse,” Conway told the students Thursday afternoon during an appearance at the school. That's why he's been touring high schools around the state to warn students about the dangers of prescription drug abuse. “The non-medical use of prescription pain relievers among all age groups in Kentucky is down, and for the first time we are below the national average for prescription drug abuse,” Conway said in a press release.

Sarah Shay was a vibrant young girl with a bright future, according to her mother, Dr. Karen Shay, a Morehead dentist. “She was a great girl,” Dr. Shay told students, faculty and local officials during an assembly in the West Jessamine High School auditorium Thursday morning. “She was probably a lot like most of you,” Dr. Shay said, with voice breaking at times. Sarah Shay died in 2006 at the age of 19 from a prescription-drug overdose, and Dr. Shay was in Jessamine County along with Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway and Kentucky Drug Czar Van Ingram to talk about Kentucky's prescription-drug-abuse epidemic.

Rising local employment rates, more industrial prospects and plenty of national attention over the past year have created a more promising economic forecast for Danville and Boyle County. Eighteen industrial businesses are employing about 9.4 percent more people than they were a year ago, according to a reporter's audit of quarterly reports compiled by the Boyle County Industrial Foundation and the Danville/Boyle County Economic Development Partnership. The employment outlook is also optimistic in other counties.

Up What better way to kick off the start of the 2012-2013 high-school sports season than with the second annual VisitNich.com Bowl and the Soccerrama Showcase this weekend? East and West High football teams will play Somerset and Tates Creek, respectively, and then nine soccer teams, including East and West boys' and girls' teams, will hit the pitch Saturday and Sunday. We applaud the efforts of the Nicholasville Tourism Commission and the sponsors for making this coming weekend happen.

HARRODSBURG - Three Mercer County residents face an array of criminal charges after allegedly trying to traffic marijuana through theU.S. mailsystem, according to the sheriff. Mercer County Sheriff Ernie Kelty, Chief Deputy Sheriff Scott Elder, additional Mercer deputies andU.S. Postal Service officials recently have been investigating suspicious packages shipped to addresses in Salvisa and Harrodsburg, and made an important break in their case on Thursday. Elder's K9 unit, Damon, detected the odor of marijuana on packages being sent to 1050 Old Louisville Road in Salvisa, Kelty said.

While prescription drug abuse has contributed to a number of deaths, Jessamine County Coroner Michael Hughes said the county's suicide rates is pretty scary as well. Since 2009, the coroner's office has investigated 16 suicides, Hughes said. “Usually, it's the middle-aged - someone going through a messy divorce, or it's a child-custody thing, or they feel like the family has turned against them,” Hughes said. “Middle age is the most prominent (age) for suicides, but again, we had a 19-year-old boy this year.” Hughes said the suicide rate in Jessamine County is slightly higher than the drug-related death rates.

More than one out of every 10 deaths the Jessamine County coroner investigates involves the abuse of prescription drugs. Since 2009, the coroner's office has investigated a total of 35 drug-related deaths, and county coroner Michael Hughes said the common denominator has been prescription drugs. “Of the 12 drug-related deaths over the last two years (2011 and through July 25, 2012), only one was the result of a nonprescription drug,” Hughes said. “The vast majority are prescription drugs.” Hughes, who has been in office since January 2011, said his statistics are based on those who died within Jessamine County and not people who were transported to Lexington hospitals and died in Fayette County.

The Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure has been on the front line in the fight against prescription drug abuse. Overseeing the licenses of more than 15,000 physicians, we are a key participant in protecting the independence and individual judgments of doctors, while also working to enforce regulations designed to keep doctors and patients safe. We initiated disciplinary proceedings against those physicians who willfully overprescribe controlled substances. We developed advisory opinions on prescribing for chronic pain and partnered with the state to lead educational presentations.

Editor's note: This is the second of a three-week series looking at crime trends in Nicholasville. Next week: traffic offenses and false alarms While city officials characterize Nicholasville's crime rate as low, like many other communities, it too has its fair share of drug-related crimes. But Nicholasville's main drug problem isn't the more commonly known drugs such as cocaine and marijuana. This area's biggest drug problem, according to Nicholasville police Sgt. Scott Harvey, is prescription-drug abuse.