The American Academy of Pain Medicine

AAPM Releases Statement

On Drug Control Strategy

On March 1, 2004, the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy released the 2004 National Drug Control Strategy, which targets the use of pain relievers, sedatives and stimulants for non-medical purposes and creates new Federal programs to address and decrease inappropriate use.  The DEA also released a press release about this new Strategy entitled, “U.S. Drug Prevention, Treatment, Enforcement Agencies Take on ‘Doctor Shoppers,’ ‘Pill Mills.’”

New programs created by the Strategy include:

·         Careful consideration of labeling and marketing of opiate drug products;

·         Increasing the number of state Prescription Monitoring Programs;

·         Wider dissemination of education and training on appropriate pain management and opioid treatment procedures for physicians authorized to prescribe controlled substances; and

·         Using web crawler technology to identify, investigate, and prosecute Internet pharmacies (“pill mills”) that provide controlled substances illegally.

The National Drug Control Strategy and the DEA’s press release were discussed during the AAPM Board of Directors meeting, held on March 3, 2004. AAPM Board members felt the Strategy and the DEA’s press release lacked the necessary balance between addressing inappropriate prescription drug use and preventing further misconceptions about prescription drug addiction that have already hindered effective pain treatment. As a result, the AAPM Board members released to the press an official statement on the 2004 National Drug Control Strategy.

On March 4, 2004, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Office of Diversion Control hosted a working group meeting in Arlington, Virginia on the “need for practitioner education in prescribing pain management.” AAPM Board Members Scott Fishman, MD and Edward Covington, MD attended this workshop and shared AAPM’s statement with workshop attendees.

AAPM's Statement on National Drug Control Strategy
2004 National Drug Control Strategy