CALL (866) 353-2683 TO FIND AN OPIATE TREATMENT PROGRAM!

More than 40 people age 60 and over have been caught illegally selling prescription painkillers in Kentucky since April 2004, according to a local anti-drug task force.

The Associated Press reported Dec. 12 that an 87-year-old woman was recently arrested and imprisoned for reselling her prescription drugs for cash.

"When a person is on Social Security, drawing $500 a month, and they can sell their pain pills for $10 apiece, they'll take half of them for themselves and sell the other half to pay their electric bills or buy groceries," said Floyd County jailer Roger Webb. "It used to be a rare occasion to have an elderly inmate. Five years ago it was a rarity."

Experts say the problem may not be limited to Kentucky. "We haven't heard a lot about senior citizens being a source of those drugs," said Erin Artigiani of the University of Maryland Center for Substance Abuse Research. "We know college students do this. It's not much of a stretch to think that seniors could do it, too."

Physician Anita Cornett has heard from formerly addicted patients that they got their drugs from elderly neighbors; now, she randomly drug-tests her patients to make sure they are taking -- not selling -- their medications. Patients also are asked to bring in their prescription bottles so that pills can be counted.

Katrina Causes Wave of Addiction Problems
 

California Colorado Delaware Georgia Indiana Kansas Louisiana Maryland New Mexico North Carolina Pennsylvania Tennessee Texas Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin

Suboxone ™ is the first opioid medication approved under the Drug Addiction Treatment Act 2000 for the treatment of opioid dependence in an office-based setting.

Methadone is a rigorously well-tested medication that is safe and efficacious for the treatment of narcotic withdrawal and dependence.