Our Opinion: The Rx drug abuse/heroin connection

Missouri has gained a dubious distinction as the state where an unresolved problem has created a growing problem.

The growing problem is heroin use and overdoses. The unresolved problem is the state Legislature's failure to pass a prescription drug-monitoring program.

How are the two connected?

According to an Associated Press story in the Sunday News Tribune, heroin use "has become more prevalent among women and the middle class, and many of its users came to the narcotic after having first become addicted to prescription drugs, according to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)."

The AP adds: "About 75 percent of new heroin users first became hooked on prescription opiates, a class of morphine-like drugs that includes Oxycontin and Vicodin before turning to heroin, the CDC found."

Sgt. Shawn Griggs, a spokesman for the Missouri Highway Patrol, said: "Many people that we interview didn't wake up and decide to do heroin, but they started out with prescription drugs."

Authorities said heroin use has increased, in part, because it is relatively inexpensive. Springfield Police Lt. Shawn Williams said: It's gotten to the point where they can buy heroin cheaper than prescription drugs on the street."

A first step in combating the surge in heroin use and overdoses would be for Missouri lawmakers to approve a prescription drug-monitoring program, designed to prevent abuse and addiction to prescription opiates.

Missouri remains the lone holdout among the states, largely because of privacy concerns cited by opposing lawmakers.

A proposal in the past session addressed a number of privacy issues and, although it mollified some opponents, it failed to cross the finish line. Controversies and disputes diverted attention from legislative action in the session's final days.

Legislative opposition remains, but must be overcome next year.

The privacy protections in the failed proposal were more than adequate. Among them, the bill would have required the database to be encrypted, and prescription information would have been retained in the database no longer than 180 days.

In this day and age of digital communication and storage, security and privacy cannot be guaranteed. A recent national news story reported hackers stole the personal data, including medical histories, of 21 million people from a U.S. government computer system.

Missouri is in an enviable position where it can emulate or borrow from the best prescription drug-monitoring programs in 49 other states.

Lawmakers must act. Privacy concerns are a paper tiger when compared to prescription drug abuse that leads Missourians to addiction, heroin use and deadly overdoses.