 |
| INTERNET
DRUGS |
 |
Testimony before the U.S. Senate
Opening Statement of Hon. Patrick J. Leahy, U.S. Senator from Vermont
U.S.
Senate Committee on the Judiciary
May
16, 2007
Good morning. Today the Committee will be holding an important hearing
on the growing problem of rogue online pharmacies that illegally traffic
in highly addictive painkillers and other controlled substances. You
know, in many ways, the Internet has made our lives better. I have
been one of its biggest proponents for those reasons. It removes the
historic constraints from geography; it provides access to information
and knowledge that might otherwise remain unavailable, especially
to people like myself who live in rural areas. Distance learning,
access to medical knowledge at the finest hospitals, and increased
commercial competition—these are all aspects of the Internet
that are important. Vermont businesses sell Vermont products throughout
the Nation and around the world through the Internet. At the same
time, the Internet has enabled Vermonters, and others, better access
to convenient and more affordable medicine, which should be stressed.
But the online
sale of pharmaceuticals presents a more complicated and problematic
aspect. Rogue online pharmacies increasingly have become a source
for the illegal supply of controlled substances. Dangerous and addictive
prescription drugs are too often only a click away without the proper
constraints of local doctors and pharmacists.
Controlled drugs,
such as pain relievers, tranquilizers, stimulants, and sedatives,
can be too easily bought illegally over the Internet. Anyone—including
children—can readily obtain dangerous controlled substances
from online pharmacies. All they need is access to a computer and
a credit card. The check and security provided by our local pharmacists
in local pharmacies—those who have served Americans for generations
and helped us get well and keep us well—is not always replicated
online.
The 2006 National
Survey on Drug Use and Health indicates that almost 6 million people
currently misuse prescription drugs and, of them, more than two-thirds
4.4 million people—abuse pain relievers such as OxyContin.
Some celebrities have been involved in high-profile cases, but I
am more concerned about the fact that people in every state and
increasingly from every age group and demographics are affected.
When abused, these drugs have enormous potential to cause harm and
illness and addiction, and as we are going to hear this morning
from one of our witnesses, tragically even death.
American teenagers
are always particularly vulnerable to Internet drug trafficking.
Among young people, prescription drugs have become the second most
abused illegal drug. In fact, if you exclude marijuana, more adults
and teens report abusing prescription drugs than all the other illicit
drugs combined. Too many American teenagers mistakenly believe that
abusing addictive narcotics is a safe way to get ‘‘high.’’
As we learned
just last week, some drug companies have themselves contributed
to that dangerous impression by giving consumers misleading information
about the addictive qualities of these drugs. Purdue Pharmacies,
the maker of the powerful painkiller OxyContin, and three of its
corporate executives pled guilty to intentionally misleading the
public when it promoted OxyContin as less addictive than narcotics.
It is a sad day when pharmaceutical companies act like tobacco companies
and mislead the public rather than alerting the public to the risks
associated with the use of its products.
We have legislation
referred to this Committee that would create potent new tools for
law enforcement to prosecute those who illegally sell drugs online
and allow State authorities to shut down online pharmacies even
before they get started. And I will work with the Senators from
California and Alabama and others on these matters.
As the longtime
Co-Chair of the Congressional Internet Caucus, I will ask the Caucus
to consider the issue of the growing danger that online pharmacies
pose to youth. Internet drug trafficking has presented another challenge
for law enforcement. If drug dealers came into our neighborhoods
selling these kinds of drugs, Americans would be up in arms.
So I thank our
distinguished panel of witnesses for appearing today, and I also
especially want to thank Senator Specter for his work in connection
with this hearing.
[The prepared
statement of Senator Leahy appears as a submission for the record.]
Senator Specter?
|
|
New
Strategy 