Billboards Proclaim Anti –Prescription Drug Abuse Message
On April 1st, 2012, motorists began seeing an unusual billboard that had been erected on heavily traveled Sunset Pointe Road in Clearwater. The bold mission statement was paid for by local coalition groups who have partnered with Pinellas county authorities. Those responsible for the billboard include local law enforcement, various governmental agencies and substance abuse counseling providers. Additional billboards are slated for other parts of the county, with the next one scheduled to appear on Gandy Boulevard. This unique billboard advertising campaign is aimed at increasing public awareness to the problems of doctor shopping, prescription fraud and pain pill addiction. It follows Florida’s recent implementation of the prescription drug monitoring database.
A Continued Moratorium on New Pain Clinics
On April 24th 2012, County commissioners set a public hearing date for May 8th to extend the moratorium on new pain clinics. This was not the first extension of the local legislation and probably won’t be the last. Commissioners have been quite vocal about their desire to continue the prohibition until the Florida state legislature acts to toughen the laws associated with new pain clinic licensing. Efforts by Pinellas county commissioners have already resulted in a decline of so called “pill mills.” The Tampa bay area went from approximately seventy last year, to what was last reported by Sheriff Bob Gualtieri to now be about twenty. The old local ordinance covered more ground then simply prohibiting new pain clinics from opening up shop. It also mandated the registration of “high prescribing” clinics. These were defined as clinics that issue more than thirty-four pain related prescriptions in a single day. The newly proposed ordinance will require special registration by existing clinics that write more than just twenty prescriptions. This high prescriber ordinance is designed to help the Department of Health discover which physicians are writing an excessive number of narcotic prescriptions.
Operation Medicine Cabinet
On April 30th 2012 the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Department conducted its fifth installment of “Operation Medicine Cabinet.” Cooperating law enforcement agencies that participated in this community based highly organized activity included the:
- St. Petersburg Police Department
- Clearwater Police Department
- Pinellas Park Police Department
- Largo Police Department
- St. Pete Beach Police Department
- Treasure Island Police Department
- Gulfport Police Department
- Tarpon Springs Police Department
Residents of these communities were given the opportunity to participate in the “DEA’s National Take-Back Day” by dropping off their unused prescription medications at one of fourteen locations throughout the county. Within only a four hour period, local law enforcement collected in excess of 700 pounds of prescription medication. All told, 4,268 police agencies nation-wide participated in this initiative which has resulted to date, in the removal of over 1.5 million pounds of medication from public circulation.
Help for a Pill Problem in Pinellas County
1. Arrested for prescription fraud, felony possession, sale or the trafficking of prescription drugs? Your first step is to educate yourself about your possible options. The best place to do that, is at a website dedicated solely to this topic: www.floridaprescriptionfraud.com
2. Have you heard about Pinellas County’s “Drug Court”? You can learn more about how participants in this specialized courtroom avoid becoming convicted felons. Watch an informative video at: http://www.defensehelp.com/felony-criminal-charges-lawyer/pinellas-county-drug-court
3. Accused of doctor shopping and don’t know what to do next? This video can help: http://www.defensehelp.com/felony-criminal-charges-lawyer/doctor-shopping
4. Do you think there may be an outstanding warrant for your arrest? Watch this video to confirm if a warrant does exist and if so, what you can do about it: http://www.defensehelp.com/solutions-defenses-criminal-charge/Pinellas-County-arrest-warrant
5. For both outpatient and inpatient prescription pill addiction counseling programs you can contact Operation PAR at: 1-888-727-6398 or visit: http://operationpar.org/
6. To locate a meetings for Narcotics Anonymous in your area, visit: http://portaltools.na.org/portaltools/MeetingLoc/
We Can Help With Your Prescription Drug Charge
A Defense Team of Former State Prosecutors
Free Consultation - (727) 578-0303
Criminal Defense: www.defensehelp.com
DUI Defense: www.duistpetersburglawyer.com
Related Links:
Pinellas Defense Attorneys Reveal Illegal Police Tactics in Doctor Shopping & Prescription Fraud Investigations
Florida Prescription Database Heats up to Uncover Doctor Shopping & Prescription Fraud
The Florida Prescription Drug Database…Now Online
Drug Trafficking in Florida…A Crime You Thought You Understood
You made some really good points there. I checked on the web for more info about the issue and
found most people will go along with your views on this site.
Posted by: profil | September 02, 2012 at 06:02 AM