The U.S. Justice Department and Drug Enforcement Administration are proposing a reduction in the amount of controlled substances that can be manufactured in the U.S. next year. The move would help states like Kentucky, which lost more
than 1,500 residents to drug overdoses last year.
The federal government’s proposal would reduce 2019 opioid manufacturing quotas for the six most commonly misused opioids by an average of ten percent from 2018 levels. The goal of limiting production of drugs such Fentanyl and Oxycodone is to make it harder to divert those drugs for abuse. Kentucky already appears to be making some progress in reducing access to opioids.
A Kentucky Health Issues Poll released last month found that 34 percent of adults in the state got prescriptions for pain relief over a five-year period leading up to, and including, 2017. That was a drop of 21 percentage points from a similar poll taken in 2011.
Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear has filed lawsuits against seven drug manufacturers and distributors, accusing them of profiting from the state’s opioid crisis. He argues the companies have flooded the commonwealth with prescription painkillers and have violated state and federal law by failing to report suspiciously large orders it received for opioids.
