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16 J. Health Care L. & Pol'y 271 (2013)
The Best of Both Worlds: Applying Federal Commerce and State Police Powers to Reduce Prescription Drug Abuse

handle is hein.journals/hclwpo16 and id is 279 raw text is: THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS: APPLYING FEDERAL COMMERCE AND STATE POLICE POWERS TO REDUCE PRESCRIPTION DRUG ABUSE MICHAEL C. BARNES* GRETCHEN ARNDT** 1. INTRODUCTION Prescription drug' abuse is the fastest growing drug problem in the United States.2 Although public perception sees prescription medications as inherently Copyright 0 2013 by Michael C. Barnes & Gretchen Arndt. * Michael C. Barnes is the managing attorney at DCBA Law & Policy in Washington, DC. ** Gretchen Arndt, JD, graduated from the George Mason University School of Law in 2013, where she was a member of the George Mason University Civil Rights Law Journal. The authors would like to thank Stacey L. Sklaver for her research and editing contributions. 1. Noteworthy prescription medications that are often abused include opioids (such as hydrocodone and oxycodone), stimulants (such as dextroamphetamine and rnethylphenidate), and benzodiazepines (such as alprazolam and diazepam). These medications are all classed as controlled substances under federal and most states' laws. Controlled substances are drugs, substances, or immediate precursors of drugs that the government has determined it must regulate because of their potentially dangerous effects. See 21 U.S.C. § 802(6) (2011) (defining controlled substance); 21 C.F.R. § 1308.11-15 (2011) (listing current controlled substances in Schedules I-V). This Article addresses a federal Controlled Substances Act amendment applicable to controlled substances in Schedules 1l-V. 21 U.S.C. § 801 (2011). This Article often focuses on opioid pain medications because these pain relievers are the most commonly abused controlled substances. Nevertheless, solutions to prescription drug abuse must also apply to stimulants and benzodiazepines. See Andria Simmons, Ga. Drug Overdose Deaths Drop: Fatalities off 9% from Prescriptions, Illegal Narcotics, GBI Reports, ATLANTA J. CONST., Aug. 15, 2012, at B2 (stating that the anti-anxiety drug alprazolam, also known as Xanax, topped the list of drugs most commonly found in ... toxicology tests for individuals who died of prescription drug-related overdoses); SUBSTANCE ABUSE & MENTAL HEALTH SERVS. ADMIN., U.S. DEP'T OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVS., RESULTS FROM THE 2011 NATIONAL SURVEY ON DRUG USE AND HEALTH: SUMMARY OF NATIONAL FINDINGS (2012), available at http://www.samhsa.gov/ data/nsduh/2kl lresults/nsduhresults201 .htm (stating that the most prevalent category of misused prescription drugs is pain relievers). As discussed in the National Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Strategy, successful responses to prescription opioid diversion, misuse, and abuse will likely also be applicable to other classes of medications. CTR. FOR LAWFUL ACCESS & ABUSE DETERRENCE, NATIONAL PRESCRIPTION DRUG ABUSE PREVENTION STRATEGY: 2011-2012 UPDATE 9 (2012), available at http://www.claad.org/downloads/CLAADStrategy20l Iv3.pdf. 271

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