Posted by Eugene Volokh:
Prescription Drugs and Drug Abuse:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2005_06_05-2005_06_11.shtml#1118426997
A few days ago, I [1]questioned Justice Thomas's statement that
"[U]nder the [Controlled Substances Act], certain drugs that present a
high risk of abuse and addiction but that nevertheless have an
accepted medical use -- drugs like morphine and amphetamines -- are
available by prescription. No one argues that permitting use of these
drugs under medical supervision has undermined the [Act's]
restrictions."
I had meant to blog a link to [2]Mark Kleiman's thoughts on the
subject, but it fell through the cracks. But better late than never;
check it out. Here are some excerpts:
It depends, both on the rigor of controls on prescription drugs and
on the availability of non-pharmaceutical supplies of the drug in
question or substitutes for it.
Dexamphetamine used to leak massively from the prescription market
into the illicit market . . . .
Morphine doesn't leak much because there's not much illicit demand
for it, but hydromophone (dilaudid) and miperidine (Demerol) are
much sought-after as heroin substitutes.
The semi-synthetic opioids hydrocodone (Vicodin) and oxycodone
(Percodan, Oxycontin) have thriving diversion markets. . . .
In the cannabis case, insofar as the "buyers' clubs" function as
convenient retail outlets, they may do a little bit to increase the
availability of pot for non-medical use, though of course the
places most receptive to the presence of such clubs tend to be the
places where strictly illicit cannabis is easiest to obtain. But
the ubiquity of the illicit cannabis supply, in both geographic and
social space, greatly reduces the impact of making it medically
available. . . .
References
1. http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2005_06_05-2005_06_11.shtml#1118084871
2.
http://www.markarkleiman.com/archives/drug_policy_/2005/06/prescription_diversion_and_drug_abuse.php
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