There’s a lot more than oranges that visitors to south Florida can get these days.
South Florida has a booming pain clinic industry- and purveyor of pain pills. The region has begun to be known as the pill mill capitol of the United States. Authorities in the area are struggling with the embarrassing and deadly problem. There is much debate as to the reasons this part of Florida became the nation’s medicine cabinet. "That is the $21-million question," said Joel Kaufman, executive director of the United Way of Broward's Commission on Drug Abuse. "The loose regulation and oversight has been one contributing factor." During the 1990’s the Appalachian region saw a huge spike in deaths from the pain drug oxycontin. The states took quick action and implemented programs which tracked who was writing and receiving prescriptions in the area. This did not happen in Florida. The large concentration of doctors served as a foundation for a huge industry to emerge. Whether the officials simply did not realize the imposing problem or if they were motivated by huge profits, the result is the same – large numbers of travelers to Florida who pass by Disney World and keep going south. Because the pills wind up in other hands, it creates problems for the rest of the country.
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