Proposed Prescription Drug Legislation

Proposed Prescription Drug Legislation

A Glenn County group is pushing for legislation regarding the most commonly abused prescription drugs. The man behind the campaign has long been instrumental in drug prevention here in the North State. Jim Bettencourt, the chairperson of the group Not In Our Town says two simple tests given before a doctor writes a prescription could lead to a drastic drop in the illegal use of some of the most dangerous drugs. "Nobody wants to keep anybody from getting their meds. That's not what this is about. What it’s about is trying to keep those meds from being abused," Bettencourt said. Bettencourt is taking a proposal to lawmakers that would require doctors to give patients a urine and written test before prescribing any scheduled narcotics. He says the move is something that is needed as prescription drug abuse continues to rise. "The level of overdoses and deaths due to prescription drugs has escalated over the last decade," Bettencourt said. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics the non-medical use of prescription drugs ranks 2nd behind marijuana as the most common category of drug abuse. Part of the reason for that rise according to Bettencourt is the lack of testing by doctors. While he knows many will say the testing is too expensive; he says the $40 for a urine test could easily be offset by the money saved with fewer addicts. "The cost of a screening test is very minimal and in comparison with the negative side. You know it is a small expense," Bettencourt said. While Bettencourt admits that patients could lie on the 20-question test. He says the combination of the tests would give doctors a pretty broad glimpse into a person's history. "The responses to the questions in conjunction with the urine analysis would give them overall the best opportunity to understand what's in that patients system and what's going on in their head," Bettencourt said. Bettencourt already has a meeting set senator Diane Feinstein’s aide, and intends to schedule meetings with other North State legislators in the coming months.