White House initiates anti-drug plan

WASHINGTON, April 20 (UPI) -- The Obama administration has initiated a program to combat prescription drug abuse, Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske said Tuesday.

At the heart of the program is a requirement that pharmaceutical companies provide education on the risks of opioid drugs to doctors who prescribe them, Kerlikowske, the director of national drug control policy, said. The companies must also create educational material doctors can share with patients.

"We share a responsibility to protect our communities from the damage done by prescription drug abuse," Kerlikowske said. "This plan will build upon our already unprecedented efforts to coordinate a national response to this public health crisis by addressing the threat at the Federal, state, and local level."

Officials said abuse of prescription drugs is the nation's fastest-growing drug problem, responsible for more overdoses than black tar heroin in the 1970s and crack cocaine in the 1980s combined. In 2007, there were 28,000 deaths from overdoses of opioids.