Closing the Office of Drug Control is Bad For Business

Governor-Elect Rick Scott notified all four full-time employees working in the governor's Office of Drug Control that their services will no longer be needed after he takes office next month. The office will be dissolved and all its duties turned over to the departments of Health and Law Enforcement.
Rick Scott has pledged to cut waste in state government and the annual budget of about $551,300 for funding the operations of the Office of Drug Control is considered "waste" that needs to be eliminated too.
But lets analyze and examine the facts:

* The Office of Drug Control was created by then Governor Jeb Bush in 1999 and is authorized by state statutes.
* The Office collaborates with other agencies on the implementation of a three-pronged approach of Prevention, Treatment and Law Enforcement to eliminate the devastation of substance abuse rampant in Florida's diverse communities.
* The Office issued a series of excellent reports http://www.flgov.com/drugcontrol/odc_statsreports.php documenting the increasing problem of drug abuse in Florida.
* The Office was instrumental in getting legislation passed that is intended to help curb prescription drug abuse — one bill targeting pain management clinics, which are often disguises for "pill mills," and another that establishes a prescription drug monitoring program.
* The Office championed the creation of a Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, which almost reached the point of going on-line.
* Prohibited by law to use state funds to pay for the PDMP Director Bruce Grant and his superb staff successfully obtained the necessary funding through federal grants and other sources

The current political leadership in Tallahassee seems to be under the impression that we DO NOT have a significant drug problem in Florida.
Governor Scott's spokesman Brian Burgess was quoted in an article that "I don't think we're going to have cocaine bales stacking up on the docks of Miami if we close this office."
Obviously, he did not bother to check the facts:

· Years of lax state laws and a plethora of pain clinics have made Florida a destination for prescription drug traffickers, drug peddling doctors and abusers.

· The DEA, using its most recent data, says that 49 out of 50 of the top oxycodone prescribers are located in Florida.

· The number of deaths caused by at least one prescription drug increased more than 100 percent from 2003 to 2009.

· Mark Fontaine, executive director of the Florida Alcohol and Drug Abuse Association, said a recent study showed that substance abuse has a $43 billion negative impact on the state economy due to loss of job productivity, and costs associated with hospital and emergency room visits and incarceration. Fontaine said about 65 percent of Florida inmates have substance abuse problems.

· A 2009 Florida Department of Law Enforcement study concluded seven people in Florida die every day- ALMOST 2500 FLORIDIANS A YEAR - due to prescription drug abuse.



YES, WE DO HAVE A DRUG PROBLEM IN FLORIDA AND YES IT HAS REACHED EPIDEMIC PROPORTIONS WITH ADVERSE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC RAMIFICATIONS.


Is cutting $500,000 of "wasteful" spending is worth more than all of the above listed adverse impacts of substance abuse and diversion?
Isn't it penny wise and pond foolish to close the Office of Drug Control? Shouldn't such decisions be based on recommendation made as the result of a careful review process involving experts?

SAVING $500,000 IS A BAD BUSINESS DECISION!
I am certain that closing the Office of Drug Control will have a significant adverse impact on our efforts to combat and control substance abuse and diversion forcing the allocation of much higher funding of law enforcement to deal with the consequences of a failed policy.


GOVERNOR-ELECT RICK SCOTT PLEASE RECONSIDER THIS DECISION!

THE ELIMINATION OF THE OFFICE OF DRUG CONTROL IS BAD FOR BUSINESS AND BAD FOR OUR GREAT STATE OF FLORIDA.


Bernd Wollschlaeger,MD,FAAFP,FASAM
Family Physician& Addiction Specialist