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Good morning Mr. Chairman and members of the
Committee. My name is Landon Gibbs. I am an Assistant Special Agent in Charge
within the Drug Enforcement Division of the Virginia State Police. I thank you
for the invitation to speak with you today concerning the impact of prescription
drug abuse and the personal importation of one of the most abused drugs.
My testimony will focus on three areas:
A brief description of the drug Oxycontin, it’s
intended use and how it is abused
The impact on individuals and the community of
Oxycontin abuse
Personal importation of prescription drugs
Oxycontin, its use and abuse
Oxycontin is a very effective analgesic, designed
for moderate to severe pain relief, chronic pain control and terminal cancer
pain relief. It is a time-released form of the narcotic analgesic Oxycodone.
Oxycodone has a high abuse potential and is similar to Morphine in dependence
liability.
Oxycontin is currently available in 10, 20, 40
and 80 mg tablets, as the manufacturer has ceased shipment of the 160-mg tablet.
Oxycontin is pure Oxycodone, with no other active ingredients, as compared to
other analgesics such as Percocet, Tylox and Percodan. The time release
formulation allows patients 8 to 12 hours of pain relief from a single dose.
There are relatively few known incidents of
addiction, or physical dependence, to Oxycontin when the drug is taken as
prescribed by a physician. It becomes highly addictive when the time release
formulation is bypassed by crushing the drug, then either inhaling the powder or
mixing the powder with water and injecting the solution. This allows the abuser
to receive the full effect of the pure Oxycodone almost immediately. This
creates an effect similar to illicit opioid narcotics, such has heroin.
In Virginia, most of the Oxycontin sold on the
street and abused comes from legitimate prescriptions written by physicians. It
is quite obviously being over prescribed and prescribed to individuals who do
not need it for pain relief.
Impact of abuse on individuals and communities
Individuals who abuse Oxycontin by inhaling or
injecting the crushed tablets quickly become addicted. This creates a mindset in
which the only goal of the individual is to obtain more of the drug. Interest in
work, family and personal well being simply disappears. The individual often
develops a drug-seeking behavior in which jobs, family, friends will all be
sacrificed in an effort to obtain money to buy more Oxycontin. Thefts of money
or items to sell from family members are all too common. Some result to
prostitution or other criminal acts to fund their habit. Oxycontin has a street
sale value of one dollar per milligram.
The community also suffers when Oxycontin, or
other drugs, are abused by a significant number of the population. Virginia has
had over 50 deaths related to Oxycontin abuse, through overdosing or combining
the drug with other substances, such as alcohol or other prescription drugs. In
addition to the emotional tragedy of these deaths, the financial impact on
families, the community and welfare programs is quite significant. In southwest
Virginia, local police are overwhelmed with the increase in property crime
related to Oxycontin addicts. Armed robberies and burglaries of pharmacies are
becoming a very real problem. Thefts from homes and business, writing bad
checks, car jacking and other crimes are increasing as the drug addicted
individuals seek anything they can sell for money to buy the drug.
In northern Virginia, a woman was arrested for
illegal possession of Oxycontin and teaching her 15-year-old son how to crush
and inhale the drug. In another case, an undercover buy of Oxycontin was made in
a home where a 10-year-old was crushing the drug and preparing to inhale it, in
the presence of his father. The drug is reportedly being widely abused by
college students.
Personal importation of prescription drugs
Over the last two years, rumors have been heard
concerning the street sale of Oxycontin that was obtained in Mexico. The price
of the drug is Mexico is approximately ten cents per milligram. The street
resale value in Virginia is one dollar per milligram. Under current federal
guidelines, an individual is permitted to bring in up to 50 dosage units of a
prescription drug. If that individual purchases 50 Oxycontin tablets of 80 mg
each, he or she would pay approximately $400 in Mexico. That same amount would
be worth $4,000 on the street in Virginia. I believe that what is taking place
is that groups of people are making multiple border crossings in a short period
of time to import this drug. The profit margin is very high. There is no risk of
being detained at the border as no laws have been violated at this point.
The State Police, working with the Drug
Enforcement Administration, have made several arrests of individuals selling
Oxycontin that was obtained in Mexico. These individuals were traveling to
Mexico and obtaining 5,000 dosage units each per trip. In statements made after
their arrest, they said they purchased the Oxycontin for 10 cents per milligram
and the Mexican pharmacists helped them conceal the drugs on their body. These
individuals made at least three trips to Mexico and none were ever checked
entering the United States. They remarked that as long as a person did not carry
any bags or a large purse, the Customs officers would not do any serious
checking or questioning.
In April of this year I visited the border
crossing at Tijuana. The volume of vehicle and foot traffic entering the United
States overwhelms the efforts of both the Immigration Service and the Customs
Service. On this particular day there were only three Customs officers at this
border crossing. One was assigned to deal with bus traffic and the other two
dealt with foot traffic. I spoke with one Customs officer who stated that it is
impossible for them to really check what is being imported. Hundreds of vehicles
were streaming into the United States. On this day I did not see any being
searched.
The importation of prescription drugs is a
serious problem. If the importation is for a true medical need, then the issue
of why such a significant price discrepancy between the United States and other
countries is a matter of concern. And if the 50 dosage unit regulations stay in
place, should the returning U. S. citizen be required to produce a copy of a U.
S. issued prescription? If the importation is not based on medical necessity,
then no amount should be permitted into this country.
Finally, all the importation regulations are, in
reality, useless unless there is an effective system in place at the border to
enforce them.
I thank you for the opportunity to speak with you
today and will be glad to answer any questions.
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