Oxycodone Sales Dropped 97% in Florida in Past Year

I've written several blogs in the past few months about oxycodone, its powerful effects, and the number of people addicted to the drug. Luckily, one state has attempted to institute a new law to prevent the abuse of prescription painkillers. However, a new report outlined the surprising lengths that drug dealers are willing to go to get their hands on the drug since new laws took effect cracking down on "pill mills".

So-called "pill mills" are clinics where doctors perform basic exams and dispense narcotic painkillers to their patients without further questioning. These drugs are highly addictive and Florida is the one state that instituted the "pill mill" law to stem the problem. This law prevents doctors from dispensing narcotics directly from their offices and forcespatients to fill their prescriptions at pharmacies. After the laws took effect, hundreds of people tried to open pharmacies or move their operations to nearby Georgia where the same law isn't in place.

The DEA says that the number of Florida doctors among the nation's top-100 purchasers of narcotic painkillers has fallen from 90 to 13 since the "pill mill" law took effect. Nevertheless, the number of pharmacy applications jumped by 80% in 2011 after the law. Pharmacies must be registered with the DEA and be licensed by the state to dispense controlled substances. While some would-be pharmacies are moving on to Georgia to avoid the new law, other questionable pharmacies are simply operating as distributors of prescription painkillers to people recruited by drug dealers to get the medication.