The big news here is that more – far, far more – people are dying from use of the legal drugs than from the illegal drugs!

“An analysis of autopsies in 2007 released [recently] by the Florida Medical Examiners Commission found that the rate of deaths caused by prescription drugs was three times the rate of deaths caused by all illicit drugs combined”, Cave reports in his article. Analysis of 168,900 deaths statewide showed that cocaine, heroin and all methamphetamines caused 989 deaths while legal opioids (strong painkillers in brand-name drugs like Vicodin and OxyContin) caused 2,328. Drugs with benzodiazepine, mainly depressants like Valium and Xanax, led to 743 deaths. Alcohol was the most commonly occurring drug, appearing in the bodies of 4,179 of the dead and judged the cause of death of 466, fewer than cocaine (843), more than methamphetamine (25) and marijuana (0).

This has not escaped the attention of ever-watchful law enforcement officials. Their answer is, of course, “the shift toward prescription-drug abuse, which began…about eight years ago, show(s) no sign of letting up and…the state must do more to control it.”

The article goes on: “You have health care providers involved, you have doctor shoppers, and then there are crimes like robbing drug shipments”, said Jeff Beasley, a drug intelligence inspector for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which co-sponsored the study. “There is a multitude of ways to get these drugs, and that¹s what makes things complicated.”

The report’s findings mirror similar studies by the DEA, which found that roughly seven million Americans are abusing prescription drugs. If accurate, that would be an increase of 80 percent in six years and more than the total number abusing cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, Ecstasy and inhalants.

The prescription drug abuse problem has “reached epidemic proportions”, according to Sergeant Lisa McElhaney of the Broward County Sheriff Department’s pharmaceutical drug diversion unit. What does this tell us? It speaks volumes about human nature – that there are among us those who will always find a need for something to abuse to soothe whatever demons or desires they have. No public attitude or law is going to stop them. They will find a way, and there will always be someone to help them for a profit.

Legislating against what cannot be stopped results in what we have – a lot of prisons with a whole lot of people inside who may have hurt, or harmed, only themselves. They are doing time for having a bad habit – while others with other bad habits, which are ultimately more costly to the system, are not imprisoned. Even though their bad habits (alcohol, tobacco, abuse of “legal” drugs) cost more lives than illegal drug use does.

Perhaps, instead of thinking more control (laws), we should think more in terms of finding a way to actually reduce substance abuse – to help those who have trouble helping themselves (if they really need help). Let our leaders take a hint from the Netherlands, who have successfully reduced crime, disease, addiction, unemployment, homelessness – or from the Brits who have had recommended to them that they look at the matter more as a health and social problem and less as a criminal problem. Or, maybe, our state and national leaders could just pay attention to our local leaders – the US Conference of Mayors – who last year recommended the same thing to our country in a unanimous vote of 225 elected city leaders meeting together.

The late economist Milton Friedman said, "Can any policy, however high-minded, be moral if it leads to widespread corruption, imprisons so many, has so racist an effect, destroys our inner cities, wreaks havoc on misguided and vulnerable individuals and brings death and destruction to foreign countries?”

After all, we do call ourselves civilized.