This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2009, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Editor's note: This story was originally published April 15, 2009.
Utah is known nationwide for the wrong reason.
"Utah has a pharmaceutical drug problem," said Jeffery Sweetin, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration special agent who oversees Utah.
Sweetin and other police and health workers met Wednesday to introduce the latest attempt to curb prescription-drug use and sales in Utah, which a 2007 report said had the country's highest rate of nonmedical painkiller abuse.
Called the Utah Pharmaceutical Drug Crime Project, the task force is pairing local police with federal agents as well as health workers. Representatives at a news conference Wednesday said the intent is to better communicate with one another to stop the selling, buying or stealing of prescription drugs while also educating the public on the dangers of painkilling medication.
Utah in 2007 recorded 317 deaths related to nonillicit drugs - double the number six years earlier and far more than died from heroin, cocaine and other infamous drugs.
In the past year, the Utah Department of Health has tried to address the problem by developing guidelines for doctors on when and how to prescribe pain medication.
Also, the department has launched a public service campaign called "Use Only As Directed" that has included a television advertisement depicting a middle-aged father dying on his living room sofa after improperly taking his medication. Funding for the media campaign ends June 30.
Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff on Wednesday attributed part of Utah's problems to the Mormon culture, which discourages alcohol and illicit drugs but is more tolerant of prescriptions.
"In some societies, they have a problem and they self-medicate with alcohol," said Shurtleff, who said he took painkillers during his long recovery from a 2007 motorcycle crash but was careful to use the medication properly and no longer uses it.
Shurtleff said Utah also suffers from a communication problem where people with problems and addictions do not want to discuss them.
"We are a pill-popping society," Shurtleff said.
State or federal authorities have prosecuted a few doctors in recent years for allegedly prescribing large amounts of painkillers without a valid reason. No representatives of physicians were at Wednesday's news conference.
Mark Fotheringham, a spokesman for Utah Medical Association, in a telephone interview supported prosecuting doctors who clearly break the law, but warned aggressive monitoring of doctors may deter some from prescribing painkillers even for the very sick.
"There are physicians that get nervous about people looking into their legitimate medical practice and saying that because you're distributing more prescription drugs you may be doing something wrong," Fotheringham said.
Sweetin said the new group only intends to prosecute lawbreaking doctors. He said Utah is implementing a unique approach to prescription drugs that other states are watching.
"My hope is by this time next year we'll be leading the nation in another way," Sweetin said. "They'll say, 'Go look at what Utah is doing.' "
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