Cops Become Drugstore Cowboys in Vermont; 4th Amendment Officially Dead

Most politicians support measures like so-called "prescription monitoring programs" mindlessly, figuring that if allowing the government access to medical records of scummy drug addicts will reduce their numbers, all is good.

But when state police start entering pharmacies to get full prescribing records of anyone taking a Schedule II controlled substance like Oxycontin-- as the Green Mountain Daily blog [hat tip to Daily Kos] says is now happening in Vermont-- perhaps they'll wake up and smell the sickly odor of the death of the 4th Amendment. In the eyes of the police, every pain patient -- and consider that some 30 percent of the population suffers some form of chronic pain -- is junky slime.

Says Siobhan Reynolds, founder of the indispensable Pain Relief Network, "We saw from the beginning of the government's shift to the "war on prescription drug abuse" that this was where this whole thing was headed. Until now, the systematic violation of patient's 4th Amendment rights was more or less hidden from public view. Now, the Vermont police have pulled back the veil for all of us to see the vicious witch hunt being perpetrated against people unfortunate enough to require Controlled Substances for the treatment of serious illness."

Just contemplate for a moment how much information your complete prescription records give to the police. From this data, the cops can tell if you suffer depression, HIV, anxiety, herpes, impotence, cancer and many other disorders many people prefer not to broadcast. If there is any information that should be protected from warrantless fishing expeditions, it's gotta be your pharmacy records. If the supposed health care privacy act HIPAA is anything more than a paperwork tree-killing bonanza, it must prohibit this ridiculous type of data mining. But Vermont pharmacists are being told that it doesn't.

Even politicians have gotta wonder: do I really want the state looking at my Viagra script?

As Benjamin Franklin put it, "those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither." And in this instance, these measures don't even increase security.

Giving the police access to private medical records does not root out addiction-- for one, even according to the research, [PDF] most prescription drug abusers don't actually get their drugs from doctors. They get them from friends and family and on the street (and most of the street supply is diverted higher up the chain, not from doctors). And the vast majority of prescription drug misusers did not start out as pain patients: they started out as users of illicit drugs.

Cops think that possession of a high dose prescription for opioids is a sign of drug abuse-- but it's more likely to be a sign of severe pain, well treated.

Says Reynolds, "Sick people in America are fair game. Period." It's about time that everyone in America realizes that if you allow a drug war exception to the Fourth Amendment, the Constitution is effectively moot.

Update: Ironically, right now, there is a Senate Judiciary Hearing going on regarding electronic prescribing of controlled substances and ensuring that law enforcement concerns are considered! No one specifically representing patient interests appears to be testifying.

Comments

[tomsthumb]

The Constitution became efectively moot when the government devised the controled substance act. The war on drugs goes against everything the Constitution stands for.

[Stirner]

Who can't love the "War on Drugs"? The Mob, which gets a tax-free monopoly; the Whiskey Industry, which makes the only legal drug; the Narcs, who get all sorts of money for the War; the Prison Industry, which loves more inmates; the Politicians, who love ready-made issues; the various "Drug Czars" and their vast bureaucratic empires; the Religious nuts who are just angry at anyone who is having any fun anywhere; and the myriads of folk who were duped by "Marijuana Madness". On to victory!

[Halsey]

This is too much..I'm at a loss what to write, as letting a cop see my entire prescription history (a head on collision did have me on pain killers for a bit...)...will that put me on some watchlist? I'm not a Vermont resident..but am amazed that this very independent state would allow such draconian big-brotherism..

Let's just hope this will become more public..and those brave Green Mountain folks will rally to change the law.

And quite frankly..I'd rather have addicts getting their fixes at a pharmacy...than on a street corner...

[Maia Szalavitz - Huffpost Blogger]

RickO, if the problem started with doctors prescribing on request (and btw, Soma is a not a painkiller), why have 90% of prescription drug misusers also taken cocaine and LSD?

It's not because doctors are turning pain patients into addicts-- it's because *PRE-EXISTING* addicts are going where the drugs are. Unless you want to believe grandma gets oxy and then goes and finds an acid and coke dealer...

So, those people are ALREADY ON DRUGS and they are getting more. Taking away the doctor-prescribed ones leaves them with street drugs, which are more dangerous since they are of unknown purity and because the addicts are now not being seen by any doctors at all and therefore cannot be guided into treatment.

Meanwhile, restricting access to painkillers DOES cut off help for legitimate patients.

So, the problem isn't coming from doctors or pain patients, it's coming from addicts. They exist. We can't create them by prescribing (though some will lie and say that that's how they got hooked-- the vast majority of so-called "accidental addicts" turn out to have long histories of prior drug abuse and even if someone's addiction *does* start with a prescription, you can't become an addict unless you stop following doctors orders and take more or take more frequently than prescribed)-- and we can't prevent their existence by not prescribing.

[drblack]

The War On Some Drugs is the most failed domestic American policy.
Drugs are as available as ever so Drug Prohibition has had no effect on supply.
Drugs which cost pennies a gram now can be sold for thousands per gram;this has created a Black market which creates violence, corruption and waste of police resources, and has created 99% of the danger associated with illegal drugs.

Drug prohibition has also helped destroy American Freedom and Human Rights.

1902 was when the first national Drug laws was passed, before that anyone could buy anything for about $10 an ounce.
Before 1902 there was no drug fueled violence, gangs, prostitution and theft. When drugs were freely and cheaply available the police actually went after violent criminals.
Passing a law doesn't stop people from doing what they want. laws will not make drugs, abortions or guns go away...they will be more dangerous .
Let us become a sane country again and a much safer country ; REPEAL DRUG PROHIBITION NOW!

[Zapata65]

Talk about one very good reason to protect the 2nd Amendment... If I ever wondered why I love my Country, but loath my government, here's the reason. Two bit polls and their "law-enfarcement" concerns have run our constitutional rights into the dirt, and what are we doing about it? Absolutely nothing! the American public, in their MSM brainwashed fervor to eliminate "social deviance", have simply signed on to whatever outright Fascist policy the current status-quo has come up with. Come on America, wake up! It's better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.

[wmfor]

"Then, the abuser can often call in their own refills to pharmacies, like CVS, who have almost no controls to prevent anyone with the right code (printed on the presription form) from using their IVR system to keep themselves supplied. If all else fails, they can just order it online"

Wrong, wrong, wrong! My partner suffers from a very painful neuro-muscular disorder (Eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome, caused ironically by the US government's failure to control Japanese-produced "nutritional supplements" 18 years ago), and has been on prescription pain-relievers, including Oxycontin until recently, for almost two decades.

These meds are always on a "No Refill" basis, and he cannot have the doctor simply call it in. He must visit the doctor every month in person, no matter how much pain he is in, and the prescription must be delivered on paper to the pharmacy.

I only wish those who would "crack down" on such medications would feel his pain for one week to understand their necessity.

[sorenmeetsdylan]

totaltitarianism

[sorenmeetsdylan]

Interesting. The most liberal State in the Union tends toward totalinarianism, and you express surprise. Classical liberalism died with Marxism, and what poses as liberal is in fact the liberty-hating nanny state.

[realitytrumpsbull]

Um, does this mean they'll start looking for sugar pills disguised as expensive medications?

[RickO]

The problem of prescription drug abuse starts with doctors who prescribe pain killers on request, such as Soma, without a clear medical need. Then, the abuser can often call in their own refills to pharmacies, like CVS, who have almost no controls to prevent anyone with the right code (printed on the presription form) from using their IVR system to keep themselves supplied. If all else fails, they can just order it online.