You may be wondering, like we did, why the federal official visiting Missouri to speak out against prescription drug abuse is the U.S. secretary of agriculture.
Two reasons.
First, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is chairman of the White House Rural Council that is leading the Obama Administration's national initiative on rural opioid addiction.
Second, as Vilsack explained, rural areas may be prone to abuse of pain medications and possess fewer resources for abusers seeking treatment.
Opioids are prescribed to relieve pain, Vilsack said in a News Tribune story Wednesday, and because farm work often leads to back, shoulder and knee problems, "there may be a need for more aggressive pain management."
A problem arises when prescribed use leads to abuse of the addictive drugs. Vilsack cited a 300 percent increase in opioid prescriptions in the last 15-16 years "that has corresponded to an increase in people misusing the drugs and the number of people who transition to heroin."
Regarding the difficulty in accessing drug abuse treatment, Vilsack said: "Seventy-six percent of the shortages of mental health services and substance abuse disorder services are in rural areas."
The emphasis on Missouri arises because the state is the remaining holdout in creating a prescription drug monitoring program, or PDMP, which again failed to win legislative approval during this year's session.
Vilsack contends the absence of a PDMP makes Missouri a magnet for prescription drug abusers and addicts from neighboring states.
"People will go to great lengths to be able to obtain and feed an addiction," he said. "They will rob. They will steal. They will borrow. And they will travel distances to be able to get access to product - of that there is no question."
We consistently have encouraged the Legislature to approve a prescription drug monitoring program.
Agriculture is a leading industry in Missouri, and we urge lawmakers to support a PDMP for the health and welfare of the people and the economy of Missouri.