{Lexington, Kentucky}...FBI intelligence analyst Anthony Carter says, based on findings by coroners or medical examiners, on average, about 80 people die each month in Kentucky due to overdoses of legal and illegal substances. Carter said 1 in 5 Kentucky teens abuse prescription drugs, and increasing numbers of newborns are treated for drug withdrawal syndrome. During a prescription drug abuse summit in Lexington Wednesday, Floyd County Commonwealth's Attorney Brent Turner said his area is awash in prescription pills that are peddled illegally, and prescription drug abuse has become so rampant in parts of eastern Kentucky that some people yank out their own teeth to get fresh supplies of painkillers to feed their addiction, while others are trading food stamps for pills or even buying urine to pass drug tests. Governor Steve Beshear promised to lead a push to shut down rogue medical professionals who are overprescribing painkillers. Beshear said his administration is helping draft legislation aimed at tracking down so-called pill mills and "the pill pushers in white coats." A measure to be introduced in coming days in the Kentucky General Assembly would bolster a prescription monitoring program to ensure that it tracks all drug prescribers.
