Russ Jones provides his ideas regarding the problem of prescription
drug abuse as it relates to drug prohibition:
1. In the 1970's we had a team in the narcotics bureau that
investigated the diversion of legal drugs into the illegal market.
The problem was minor compared to the illicit drug problem.
2. Organized crime, street gangs, or cartels were not involved in the
diversion of prescription drugs. Therefore there was none of the crime,
violence, and corruption associated with the illicit drug market. I
have never heard of a drive-by shooting, home invasion, drug rip-off,
etc, over diverted prescription drugs.
3. Addicts today may commit burglaries in search of pharmaceuticals,
but with a program of government regulated dispensaries, addicts would
no longer need to commit such burglaries. The dispensaries might also
help reduce the need to even seek illicit pharmaceuticals.
4. The profit opportunity is just not there for the gangs and cartels.
5. Large scale diversion of pharmaceuticals is difficult because law
enforcement has a starting point. They know who manufactured the drug
and can trace, to a point, the distribution route.
6. For some of the above reasons, it is more difficult for an addict
to rely on the ready supply of a diverted pharmaceutical.
7. The abuse of prescription drugs, as with the abuse of alcohol, will
be with us no matter what but we can deal with it as harm reduction
and health issue instead of a law enforcement issue.
