Kentucky Misses Point on Prescription Drugs - Again

The question is not how many people are abusing prescription pain-killers; the question is how many people in chronic pain are unable to get relief because doctors are terrified of Kentucky's draconian drug laws.

Laura Unger at the Courier:

Kentucky officials are launching a yearlong study to find out whether the state’s controversial new laws cracking down on prescription drug abuse are making a difference in curbing one of the nation’s worst pain-pill epidemics.

The Cabinet for Health and Family Services is contracting with the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy’s Institute for Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy on the research, scheduled to begin July 1 and be completed by June 30, 2014. It’s being funded by a $100,000 federal grant from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance.


“We have a long-term vision of really looking at this. For instance: Are there unintended consequences?” said Van Ingram, executive director of the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to see that (the laws) are doing what they’re designed to do.”

Given that the law was perfectly designed to terrorize doctors into refusing pain relief to suffering patients, it's working like a charm.

Anecdotal evidence already shows that drug abusers are turning away from prescription pain killers to illegal drugs like heroin.

As a commenter here pointed out, addicts are getting all the heroin they need from the usual dealers, while chronic pain victims are denied relief and treated with contempt.