North Carolina Sheriffs Want List of Patients Usuing Powerful Painkillers & Other Controlled Substances

If  you live in North Carolina and take prescriptions for powerful painkillers and other controlled substances, you'd better take heed. According to News Observer, sheriffs in North Carolina want access to state computer records identifying anyone taking these powerful medicines.

The state sheriff's association pushed the idea Tuesday, saying the move would help them make drug arrests and curb a growing problem of prescription drug abuse. But patient advocates say opening up people's medicine cabinets to law enforcement would deal a devastating blow to privacy rights.

Allowing sheriffs' offices and other law enforcement officials to use the state's computerized list would vastly widen the circle of people with access to information on prescriptions written for millions of people. As it stands now, doctors and pharmacists are the main users.  Source

First a registry for gangs is being proposed in Suffolk County, NY and now law enforcement wants access to personal medical records. Where do we draw the line?

Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/09/08/669723/lists-of-pain-pillpatients-sought.html#ixzz0z3QmWqsS