Pill-Mill Laws in Florida Likely to Affect Addiction Treatment

  With new laws put in place it is harder for people who suffer from addiction to get prescription drugs through way of pill-mills. As a result Florida drug and alcohol treatment centers are preparing for an increase in patients. When a person suddenly stops abusing prescription drugs they will experience physical withdrawal symptoms that are likely to be very unpleasant. In order to get through the withdrawal symptoms it is best for suffering addicts to go through a medically supervised detoxification followed by addiction treatment. Over the course of the past few years prescription drug abuse has grown at an alarming rate. The abundant amount of pill-mills located around the state of Florida has made it very easy and affordable for individuals to support their habits. Now that they are being shut down addicts are being forced to deal with their drug addiction. Mark Fontaine the executive director of the Florida Alcohol and Drug Abuse Association states, “Essentially you have a new class of drug-addicted individuals who if their supply is stopped will need to at least detox capacity and most probably treatment capacity.” Because of the number of people who were getting their prescription drugs at pill-mills the expectations are that a spike is going to occur in the amount of individuals who are seeking treatment.  The key to stopping drug addiction is for an individual to participate in both detoxification and addiction treatment. That way both the physiological and psychological aspect of the disease can be addressed. Without both individuals are likely to suffer relapse and start to substitute one drug for another.