The release last month of the Bush administration’s 2008 National Drug Control Strategy was cause for optimism, but only barely.

On the plus side, the use of illicit drugs among young people has declined 24 percent since 2001, when the first such report was released. The steepest drops have occurred in the use of meth, LSD, ecstasy, steroids, marijuana, and other “street” drugs.

But kids, it turns out, are finding drugs closer to home, sometimes in the family medicine chest. According to the report, prescription drug abuse among the young is on the rise, especially the abuse of opioid pain killers. For youngsters 12 or older, in fact, a pain reliever like OxyContin is now vying with marijuana as the “gateway” drug of choice—the one that initiates even more serious drug abuse down the road. The administration has promised to step up its efforts to control the problem, through youth education and random testing but also through aggressive law enforcement efforts, aimed in part at the prescribers themselves. continues…

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From Medical Economics magazine, more on DEA ...

For years, we’ve been following the conflict between doctors prescribing pain medications and the Drug Enforcement Administration, most recently in “Doctors: The new target in the war on drugs?” (Medical Economics, May 19, 2006.)

Now, the death of actor Heath Ledger from an accidental overdose of six pain and anxiety medicines has prompted a former deputy commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration to reexamine this issue and, specifically, the negative impact of DEA actions on doctors and their patients. We think you’ll find what he has to say illuminating. continues…

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From Medical Economics magazine, more on DEA ...

New York Post columnist Jacob Sullum wrote a good summing up of trial of Dr. William Hurwitz of McLean, Va., recently sentenced to five years in federal prison for prescribing painkillers for patients who turned out to be addicts or drug dealers. Sullum calls upon doctors to be brave in the face of an overzealous DEA. continues…

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From Medical Economics magazine, more on DEA ...