Florida’s ‘pill mill’ problem grew out of years of weak regulations, a lack of laws and the absence of a database to monitor prescription drugs, according to an article in the Orlando Sentinel.
“We failed to enact proper controls and procedures that would keep this from getting out of hand,” Bruce Grant, the state’s former Director of the Florida Office of Drug Control, told the newspaper.
As a result, Florida has become the center of the country’s prescription drug epidemic, the article states, noting that 90 of the top 100 oxycodone-buying doctors in the country in 2010 were from the state.