Finally, the state of New Jersey and an IT company inked a deal to work on the much delayed implementation of the prescription drug monitoring program in the state. The monitoring program, which is already running in at least 34 states in the country, is focused on preventing the abuse of prescription drugs such as anabolic steroids and painkillers. It is estimated that the program will be up and running within 3 to 4 months.

The state already received an initial funding for the program 6 years ago and an enabling legislation was passed in 2008. However, state officials did not give much importance on the objectives of the program which caused its implementation to be stalled. The clamor to set tighter regulation on prescription drugs fast tracked the appropriation and implementation of the program.

This is due to the investigative report published by the Star Ledger last year regarding the rampant use and abuse of performance enhancing drugs by police officers and firefighters in New Jersey. The comprehensive report of the Star Ledger revealed that most of these police officers and firefighters used their health benefits from the government to purchase steroids and human growth hormones. A Jersey City doctor was also involved in allegedly prescribing steroids and HGH even if these law enforcement officers do not have valid medical reasons. The steroids and HGH were used to beef up their physique.

Several investigating committees were formed and different bills were proposed by lawmakers to stop the abuse of these drugs by law enforcement officers. A bill in the House was already approved but a similar bill in the Senate still needs to be discussed in the committee level. Different police departments in the state have also initiated their own investigation and intensified their campaign against the use of steroids. But there’s one thing that prevents most local police departments to finally curtail the abuse of steroids in their rank. The cost of steroid testing is too high.

With the implementation of the prescription drug monitoring program, the illegal use of PED’s by law enforcement officers will be curtailed. Once functional, the authorities can look into the database of pharmacies filling prescriptions for regulated drugs. Investigators can easily identify people who may be abusing the drug or those clients who are using several prescriptions from different doctors for a particular prescription drug.

Though the lawmakers and state officials are focused on the law enforcement people, the program can be an effective tool in controlling the abuse of steroids, painkillers and other controlled drugs by the general public especially the young teens. The electronic database will also become helpful to state licensing boards and Medicare representatives.

Thomas Calcagni, the acting director of the Division of Consumer Affairs, told the NJ.com that the signing of the contract is a significant milestone. “We’ve been pushing this thing,” he said. While the implementation of the prescription drug monitoring program will solve the problem of illegal prescriptions and abuse, the New Jersey Pharmacists Association worries about the compliance of smaller pharmacies. Harvey Maldow, chief executive officer of the NJPA, said that large pharmacy chains will not encounter problems complying with the program because of their advanced computer systems. “There are certainly some of our members who do not have capability with the current software to easily provide that information. Some of the smaller, independent pharmacies do not, and those are the people who are barely hanging on,” he said.

The prescription drugs commonly abused are steroids, HGh, and painkillers like methadone and oxycodone.

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