Several Organizations in West Virginia that address drug abuse and mental health issues will get a boost from the federal government. Senators Jay Rockefeller and Joe Manchin today announced $733,068 in federal funding for community organizations across the state to prevent and reduce substance abuse among youth in West Virginia.
The funding comes from the Office of National Drug Control Policy’s (ONDCP) Drug-Free Communities (DFC) grant program with support from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
“It’s clear that our communities are in need of meaningful investments in prevention efforts targeted at reducing substance abuse among our youth,” said Rockefeller.
“SAMHSA and ONDCP helped establish drug take-back day and prescriber training in our state, which are strong steps toward keeping prescription drugs and illegal substances from falling into the hands of our young ones. I’m so glad this grant funding was awarded in our state – it will help build on these initiatives that are critical to the health and well-being of our youngest West Virginians,” he added.
“In West Virginia and across this country, substance abuse has become one of the most critical problems facing our communities, our families and our children,”said Manchin.
“We have a responsibility – especially to our future generations – to combat this national drug abuse epidemic head on. I am pleased that the FDA has recently announced their plans to reschedule hydrocodone combination drugs, which are in highly addictive painkillers like Vicodin and Lortab. Every step we take to make sure these drugs don’t get into the wrong hands is a step toward curbing substance abuse. This program will add to the FDA’s recent efforts and will focus on bringing our communities together to address this serious challenge to facilitate drug prevention efforts.”
Two coalitions received new funding awards including:
$108,222 – West Side Ward 4 Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition – Institute, W.Va.: The funding will be used by the coalition to increase efforts that aim to reduce prescription drug abuse and marijuana use among youth.
$124,846 – Kanawha Communities That Care – Charleston, W.Va.: The funding will be used by the coalition to establish and strengthen collaboration with local entities aimed at preventing and reducing substance abuse among youth.
Four West Virginia coalitions received $125,000 awards for their ongoing efforts to reduce prescription drug abuse:
Ohio County Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition – Wheeling, W. Va.
Advocates for Substance Abuse Prevention (ASAP) – Weirton, W. Va.
Morgan County Partnership, Inc. – Berkeley Springs, W. Va.
Jackson County Anti-Drug Coalition – Ripley, W. Va.
A Boone County judge has ordered four pharmaceutical drug distributors to reveal their shipments to West Virginia pharmacies over the past five years.…
A Boone County judge has ordered four pharmaceutical drug distributors to reveal their shipments to West Virginia pharmacies over the past five years.
Circuit Judge William Thompson acted Thursday in a lawsuit filed last year by former state Attorney General Darrell McGraw. The suit accused the companies of helping to contribute to the state’s pain pill abuse epidemic.
The Charleston Gazette reports Cardinal Health, Anda Inc., AmerisourceBergen Drug Corp. and J.M Smith Corp. must disclose within 30 days every state pharmacy where they’ve delivered drugs.
West Virginia leads the nation in the rate of fatal drug overdoses. A report released this month by the Trust for America’s Health says that rate is now six times higher than it was about a decade ago.
West Virginia’s substance abuse problem is one focus of the Integrated Behavioral Health Conference in Charleston this week. Professionals from health…
West Virginia’s substance abuse problem is one focus of the Integrated Behavioral Health Conference in Charleston this week. Professionals from health care, government and law enforcement are meeting to find the best ways to handle substance abuse and other mental health needs.
Department of Health and Human Resources Cabinet Secretary Karen Bowling said the idea of the conference began a couple years ago and that the goal is to combine resources in hopes of learning and progressing the field.
“Whether it’s medical professionals, policy makers, law enforcement –we all go at the idea of behavioral health services and substance abuse from a different angle. Bringing individuals together with expert speakers and continuing education credits and really making sure we’ve covered the full gamut of individuals who are dealing with our citizens who are in need of behavioral health services will help us think more collaboratively,” said Bowling.
Governor Earl Ray Tomblin outlined a few collaborative efforts to combat substance abuse in an opening keynote speech, which touched on regional drug task forces, prescription disposal centers, and the justice reinvestment act from this past legislative session. He also announced a $9 million grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration that’s been awarded to the state.
“Over the course of five years these federal monies will help expand prevention services state-wide by focusing on prescription drug and alcohol abuse,” Tomblin explained
The Deputy Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Michael Botticelli, participated in the opening panel discussion at the conference. He said the emphasis on prevention and other collaborative efforts can in some way be attributed to an evolution of perceptions surrounding substance abuse and addiction.
“I think under this Administration we’re really looked at and moved away from this 'War on Drugs' mentality and really focused this issue as a public health-related issue—acknowledging that substance abuse is a disease and that people can get treatment and do recover. One of the issues that is really important to us is how we make sure people are getting good care,” said Botticelli.
Clinical Assistant Professor of Marshall University’s Pharmacy School Brian Gallagher said getting quality care that combats substance abuse means all corners of the health care industry need to be involved, including pharmacists and pharmaceutical companies.
“Everybody has a component in this and I think the part in dealing with the pharmaceutical industry is that they’re recognizing that they don’t want their drugs taken off the market. They don’t want it to be so restrictive that the patients can’t get access to those drugs,” said Gallagher.
“We need to make sure we strike an appropriate balance: the patients who actually need the drugs are able to get them while we’re keeping them out of the hands of the people who abuse them. It’s striking that balance that’s important and working with the pharmaceutical industry and every body involved.”
Asked what type of costs might be associated with potential changes in policy, Secretary Bowling said the state will first look for other grant opportunities. But, she expects any spending in the short term will inevitably save the state money and hopefully will reduce health care costs for individuals.
“If we focus our attention on the right things for the people that we serve, in the long run it’s going to actually reduce costs to the system,” said Bowling.
“What we have to make sure we’re doing is thinking about the client in a holistic manner, that we are looking the physical and the behavioral aspect of care and making sure we’re doing the right thing, at the right place, at the right time.”
The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources is sponsoring the inaugural conference which runs through Thursday at the Charleston Civic Center.
A West Virginia-based pharmacy chain is hoping to combat the illegal manufacture of methamphetamine by stocking a tamper-resistant form of the drug used…
A West Virginia-based pharmacy chain is hoping to combat the illegal manufacture of methamphetamine by stocking a tamper-resistant form of the drug used in its production.
Fruth Pharmacy, which has 27 locations in West Virginia and Ohio, announced it will begin stocking a drug called Nexafed. The tablet contains the active ingredient pseudoephedrine, similar to the popular brand-name allergy drug Sudafed.
But if an abuser tries to extract the pseudoephedrine out of Nexafed to make meth, it breaks down into a thick gel that thwarts production. That’s all thanks to a technology developed by Illinois-based Acura Pharmaceuticals.
Vice President of Marketing for Acura Brad Rivet said the product, which has been on the market since last December, is comparable to similar, more familiar drugs you may already have in your medicine cabinet.
“We’ve done a comparative study with the branded pseudoephedrine product to show that, in humans, the rate and extent of absorption in the bloodstream is virtually identical. So, the efficacy that people have come to expect with older drugs that don’t have this technology will be there for them with Nexafed,” said Rivet.
Fruth pharmacies will continue to stock other pseudoephedrine products that offer different dosages from Nexafed. The company plans to replace traditional pseudoephedrine products with the new drug as more dosages become available.
Lynne Fruth, president of the company that bears her name, admits the pharmacy may take a hit to its bottom line because of brand loyalty and those still managing to use pseudoephedrine for illicit purposes. However, she says it’s important the company plays a role in protecting the community.
“If they’re looking for the purposes of meth, they aren’t interested in buying this product. We’re having pharmacists tell us that when they say, ‘We don’t carry straight Sudafed except in the Nexafed’ then some people say ‘Well, I don’t want that stuff.’ Which, that tells us that’s probably not a legitimate purchaser of the drug,” said Fruth, who also chairs the board of her Point Pleasant-based company.
Lawmakers and policy makers try to address the growing problem in West Virginia
In West Virginia, 288 meth labs were seized last year. So far in 2013, authorities have seized over 300 meth labs, most of which were discovered in Kanawha County. In mid-May, The Charleston Gazette reported state police estimated that meth lab seizures for 2013 were on pace to double last year’s numbers.
Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito attended Fruth’s Nexafed roll-out announcement at the Lee Street location in Charleston. She suggested legislation that might curb meth production by requiring a prescription to purchase pseudoephedrine could be considered at the state level.
Credit Dave Mistich / State of WV
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State of WV
Lee Street Fruth Pharmacist Sam Arco explains the new product Nexafed as Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito and Lynne Fruth, president of the company, look on. The product contains pseudoephedrine but cannot be used in the manufacturing of methamphetamine.
“I think that’s something that’s been considered in the state and I think that’s something that, if the problem continues without a solution—or attempted solutions like the ones we’re seeing—I think that’s probably something that would be considered,” said Capito regarding a prescription requirement for the drug.
Currently only two states, Oregon and Mississippi, require a prescription for the purchase of products containing pseudoephedrine. In an op-ed from 2010 published in The New York Times, one law enforcement official from Oregon has said that tactic is translating to fewer meth lab busts.
Recent legislation passed in West Virginia keeps all products with pseudoephedrine behind the counter and puts a cap on the amount allowed to be purchased or posessed. Sales of the drug are tracked and customers must also show identification for purchase, yet Lee Street Fruth Pharmacist Sam Arco noted that meth manufacturers often outsource the purchase of pseudoephedrine to others known as “smurfs.”
“The monitoring method doesn’t really take care of everything because I can buy a box, Congresswoman Capito can buy a box and Lynne can buy a box. All of the sudden we have three boxes out there. We don’t know where it’s going. You just don’t know that all of the time,” Arco explained, hypothetically.
Even despite the use of the National Precursor Log Exchange tracking system, known as NPLEx, West Virginians are still purchasing traditional, potentially meth-yielding pseudoephedrine products at a rapid pace. About 40,000 boxes per month of the sinus medication have been sold so far this year, according to data from the state pharmacy board.
Such high sales and skyrocketing lab busts brought Del. Don Purdue (D-Wayne) to ask Attorney General Patrick Morrisey to investigate manufacturers of pseudoephedrine. The Beckley Register-Herald recently reported that Purdue intends to revisit a bill that would require a prescription for the drug.
Are smaller, independent pharmacies the key to curbing meth production?
Fruth said past the monitoring system and any legislation on the books, the ultimate decision lies in the hands of those working behind the counter.
“It is totally at the pharmacist’s professional discretion to decide if they’re going to sell pseudoephedrine. One of the things as a local family-owned company, you tend to know your customers and a lot of our pharmacists will often opt if it is somebody from out of state or a customer who is not known to them,” said Fruth.
Rivet said Acura has intentionally targeted smaller pharmacies around the country like Fruth because of their heightened ability to influence consumers.
“We started with independent pharmacies because the pharmacist at that level is obviously aware of the need in his community and they see the need for a product like Nexafed,” said Rivet.
“Because they’re their own decision makers, they can immediately choose to put Nexafed in and start stocking it and recommending it, unlike a chain pharmacist who sees the same needs—they have to get headquarter approval before a product is brought in. So, we started with the independent pharmacies, especially those in those high meth-awareness states.”
Rivet said Nexafed is currently available in over 1,400 pharmacies nationwide.
