Joint Hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs
and the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control
Chairman Biden, thank you for calling this hearing today on prescription and over-the counter drug abuse. This dangerous trend is on the rise across the country, especially among our youth. I hope today’s hearing will help shed light on the problem and spark solutions.
It’s been widely reported that youth drug use has declined in the last six years. While the efforts of law enforcement and drug treatment professionals should be praised, this should not lull us into believing that the drug problem is over. That is far from true. Drug abuse is like a virus that constantly mutates into new strains.
One new strain is the increase in illegal use and abuse of prescription drugs. While it’s true that some statistics show a decline in overall drug use, prescription drug abuse has remained steady and risen in some places. According to the 2007 Monitoring the Future Study, issued by the University of Michigan, more than 15 percent of all 12th graders abuse prescription drugs. OxyContin, Ritalin, and Vicodin are the most commonly abused prescription drugs.
We see this trend happening in my own state of Iowa. For example, the 2005 Iowa Youth Survey reported that 15 percent of eleventh-grade students in Clinton, Iowa, had abused prescription drugs in the past month, while across Iowa, 7 percent of eleventh-graders abused prescription drugs in the past month.
This trend is alarming for a number of reasons. First, these drugs are powerful and require the supervision of a doctor for proper use. Drugs such as Oxycontin and Vicodin are narcotic pain medications that come in many different dosage forms which may not be recognizable to the average teenager. Because different dosages often look the same, there is a heightened risk for an overdose.
Second, it’s difficult for children to understand when the use of a good medicine becomes dangerous. Kids and parents alike underestimate the danger of the inappropriate use of prescription drugs, perceiving them to be less dangerous than other drugs because those medications happen to be doctor-prescribed. According to the annual survey of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, four out of ten teens think that prescription drugs are much safer to abuse than street drugs. More than one in four parents share that same belief. Yet we well know that abuse of over-the-counter and prescription drugs can inflict just as much harm on a person as illegal drugs.
Third, access to prescription drugs is readily available in medicine cabinets in many homes. According to the National Survey of Drug Use and Health, 70 percent of teens who reported using prescription drugs said they received their drugs from a friend or relative.
Prescription drug abuse can cause just as much damage as illegal drug abuse. Abuse of prescription medication can produce dangerous addictions, put a strain on families and medical communities, and increase crime rates. Further, parents may have a difficult time identifying prescription drug abuse because of the range of behavioral changes that may vary depending on the type of prescription drug abused.
The most tragic part of this new trend is the senseless loss of life. The Centers for Disease Control reports unintentional poisoning deaths from prescription drugs rose 84 percent from 1999 to 2004.
I’m also concerned about the increase in poisoning cases related to abuse of the over-the-counter drug, dextromethorphan, or DXM. DXM is a cough suppressant found in most cold medicines, which can cause hallucinations and lead to death in large doses. Since DXM is available for purchase in any drug store, children can easily obtain this addictive and potentially deadly substance. Data from the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine shows that abuse of DXM has jumped seven-fold between 1999 and 2004.
Senator Biden and I introduced the DXM Abuse Reduction Act last year to regulate the sale of bulk DXM, as well as over-the-counter medicines containing DXM. Our bill restricts the sale of DXM products and penalizes vendors who knowingly or intentionally sell DXM to persons under 18. Finally, the bill allows the Drug Enforcement Administration to regulate DXM and the dangerous loophole of internet sales.
I believe that the Drug Enforcement Agency is in the best position to regulate DXM as a controlled substance. The Agency has the expertise and enforcement capability to do the job. Some have suggested that perhaps the Food and Drug Administration would be a better regulator of over-the-counter drugs. However, I’ve spent the last four years conducting extensive oversight of the Food and Drug Administration and found that this agency has extensive shortcomings. So, I have reservations about giving the Food and Drug Administration additional responsibilities based on the problems I’ve seen with its current caseload.
Given the tremendous dangers of prescription drug abuse, it’s imperative that we are vigilant and keep one step ahead of the new trends in drug abuse. At the same time, we must remain cognizant that traditional illegal drug abuse is still a problem and drug cartels continue to plague our country.
So, I look forward to working with Senator Biden on these important drug issues, from prescription and over-the-counter drug abuse to money laundering and international drug trafficking. I’d also like to thank our hearing witnesses who will tell us about the prescription and over-the-counter drug problems facing our communities. In particular, I’d like to thank a fellow Iowan, Mr. Derek Clark, from Clinton, Iowa, for testifying today. Mr. Clark has served as the executive director of the Clinton Substance Abuse Council for the last 10 years. As executive director, Mr. Clark works with a wide variety of community members to develop solutions to substance abuse problems in Clinton, Iowa. Mr. Clark, thank you for being here today to share your experiences with us.
Unfortunately, Mr. Chairman, I’ll have to leave the hearing a little early because of other previously scheduled appointments, but I’ll be sure to review the hearing record.
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