Jan. 28--CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Several state senators are vowing to attack the state's pervasive problem of prescription drug abuse.

Forbes.com ranked West Virginia "America's most medicated" state in 2009. Based on information from Verispan, a health care information company, 17.7 prescriptions per capita were filled last year in the Mountain State. The national average was 11.5 prescriptions.

Moreover, information from the Centers for Disease Control shows West Virginia had the greatest increase in drug overdose deaths between 1999 and 2004 at 550 percent.

Sen. Evan Jenkins, D-Cabell, announced from the floor Wednesday that he and several colleagues have put together 11 bills that address the complicated issue on multiple fronts. Jenkins said the bills, seven of which have already been introduced, are the result of months of research and meetings with professionals.

"These are things that the experts in the field say we need to do. I wanted to get them in early in the session, hopefully to give plenty of time for committees they've been referred to act on them," he said.

Sen. Ron Stollings, also a main sponsor of the bundle of bills on prescription drugs, is a practicing physician in Boone County and has intimate knowledge of the problem.

"I see it on so many levels," said Stollings, D-Boone.

"I see folks who really need the pain medicine. I see issues where children or family members steal the medicine and then sell it. I see people who are 'doctor-shopping,' trying to fraudulently obtain medicine. I see doctors over-prescribing. I see doctors under-prescribing, and I see the societal affects that go along with those issues."

Stollings said while prescription drug abuse is creating a crisis on the national level, he points to a hotbed of activity in the southwest coal counties -- Mingo, Logan, Boone and Wayne.

"We really do need to get our hands around this thing," he added.

"We have to turn the spigot off. We're not going to be able to incarcerate our way out of this issue."

In a presentation this week, acting state Secretary of Military Affairs and Public Safety Joe Thornton told Senate Judiciary Committee members 70 percent of inmates in West Virginia are incarcerated for non-violent crimes.

Thornton said those types of crimes are either property- or drug-related, but that it's difficult to discern how often drugs, particularly those that are prescribed, play a role.

"It's really hard to get a solid, true breakdown of that, but in the majority of those cases we can be fairly assured that it's related to substance abuse," he said.

The legislation being introduced in the Senate seeks to accomplish a number of goals. One would give certain professionals better access to database of controlled substances kept by the state Board of Pharmacy. The database contains records of where, when, to whom and by whom drugs are being prescribed.

Currently, only authorized agents of the State Police, local drug task force units, Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau for Medical Services and the Workers' Compensation Commission can access the database.

Legislation would allow the office of the Chief Medical Examiner to inspect some controlled substances information and require pharmacies to provide online access to the database to their personnel.

"How we utilize that database will be one of the most critical issues we deal with, but it is also the most challenging because this database has very personal information," Jenkins said.

Other measures would add the drug Tramadol, a narcotic-like pain reliever, to the Schedule IV list of controlled substances and require methadone treatment centers to provide information to the Board of Pharmacy whenever a patient is allowed to leave a treatment facility with a controlled substance.

Jenkins said most of what he and others are proposing will not require lawmakers to appropriate any additional money.

"Do we need new resources, funding moving forward? Absolutely. But most of this doesn't cost the state a penny," he said.

Just last week, Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin appointed a special committee to study the effects of prescription drug abuse in the state. Sen. Robert Plymale, D-Wayne, will chair the committee. Jenkins and Stollings were asked to serve as members earlier this week.

"This is a start. This is not the finish," Jenkins told colleagues during his floor speech.

"We need to send a clear message that we recognize the problem and we are ready to act."

Contact writer Sara Gavin at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 304-348-5149.

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