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Georgia has Inherited Florida's Old Pill Mill Problem

23536

23536

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http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2012/12/georgia_has_inherited_floridas.php

Florida, Broward county in particularly, used to be America's illicit pain pill capitol until Florida politicians actually got around to drafting laws that effectively stamped out the problem. That hasn't stopped the pill heads of the south from getting their fix though. The problem has now just moved to Georgia.
Years ago, lax laws lead to the opening of dozens of "pain management centers" across South Florida. Crooked doctors basically prescribed large quantities whatever proscription pill, including OxyContin, to whoever wanted it. This meant people traveled from far and wide to get their fix, spurring a sort of pharmaceutical tourism.

Finally in 2011, Florida got serious about the problem. Tougher laws were passed, and several busts and crackdown followed.

It may have killed the industry in Florida, but according to The Wall Street Journal its just moved up to Georgia.

The Journal talked to Jeffrey Gonzalez. He used to own a used-car dealership in Florida, but that went belly up two summers ago. So, he packed up and moved to Florida to open a pill mill. In Georgia, anyone, not just doctors, can own that type of facility.

He hired two doctors off of Craigslist, one of them a gyno, and set up shop. He even did his research and checked out the legality, and says We had a green light from every agency that we spoke to."

Gonzalez was part of a growing trend. Before 2010, Georgia has 10 pain management facilities. Now they have more than 125.

Of course, dolling out pain pills to addicts and drug dealers under the guise of a legitimate medical practice isn't legal anywhere. Gonzalez's practice was busted in June, and he was lead out in handcuffs. (Though, he maintains he was targeted, in part, due to being from Florida, and that he only wanted to help out people with actual pain issues.)

The problem is that while Florida has made its laws tougher in recent years, several state's still lake statutes and police resources that could prevent the spread of pill mills. Georgia may be the first to inherit the problem, but the Journal warns several other states could also soon face the scourge of pill mills.

http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2012/12/georgia_has_inherited_floridas.php
 
Thats interesting. When the florida oxycodone ban and the crackdown everyone figured the addicts would mostly turn to herion. Nope lol they just moved to another state...now it becomes a chess game.
 
zekethemusicman said:
Thats interesting. When the florida oxycodone ban and the crackdown everyone figured the addicts would mostly turn to herion. Nope lol they just moved to another state...now it becomes a chess game.
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I don't think there's a bunch of heroin in Florida, from what I hear. It almost makes sense that moving would be the next alternative.
 
zekethemusicman said:
Thats interesting. When the florida oxycodone ban and the crackdown everyone figured the addicts would mostly turn to herion. Nope lol they just moved to another state...now it becomes a chess game.
Click to expand...

Admittedly, I was one of many(?) who predicted that pain management patients living in FL would eventually turn to heroin if there was no other option. But given the fact that the pill mills essentially packed up and moved north - I suppose that turning to a long time stigmatized Schedule I drug, obtained from shady individuals and without knowledge of purity percentage/actual dosage (etc.), would probably be a very last resort. Personally, I'd choose IV Dilaudid over street smack any day of the week. And I imagine that the pill poppers would rather stick to popping pills.
 
ro4eva said:
Admittedly, I was one of many(?) who predicted that pain management patients living in FL would eventually turn to heroin if there was no other option. But given the fact that the pill mills essentially packed up and moved north - I suppose that turning to a long time stigmatized Schedule I drug, obtained from shady individuals and without knowledge of purity percentage/actual dosage (etc.), would probably be a very last resort. Personally, I'd choose IV Dilaudid over street smack any day of the week. And I imagine that the pill poppers would rather stick to popping pills.
Click to expand...

This isn't completely true. In cities in the Northeast where heroin is a prevalent street drug it is very common for people to quit using pills and get on dope instead. Dope is much more cost effective and someone is very likely to use heroin if they can't find their pharmie drug of choice (oxy, etc)

Like previously mentioned, Florida has never had a big heroin scene. There aren't open air drug markets where you can just cop a bundle, you actually have to know someone "in the scene" to get heroin. If heroin were openly available and distributed in the Southeast like it is in the Northeast there would be many more people on heroin. None of the states in the SE US have a very big heroin scene for whatever reason.

Also, a bundle worth of heroin bought in any of the major NE cities and brought down into Georgia or Florida is worth at least double what it cost when it was originally purchased. Since there is no big scene down here, prices are high and the product is generally weaker as it gets stomped on when it comes down south. When you are paying more money for a sub-par product (assuming you can find it at all) it makes sense to stay on pharmies instead, even if the cost is higher.

The dynamics are simply different in different regions on the country.
 
nervousone said:
Like previously mentioned, Florida has never had a big heroin scene. There aren't open air drug markets where you can just cop a bundle, you actually have to know someone "in the scene" to get heroin. If heroin were openly available and distributed in the Southeast like it is in the Northeast there would be many more people on heroin. None of the states in the SE US have a very big heroin scene for whatever reason.

Also, a bundle worth of heroin bought in any of the major NE cities and brought down into Georgia or Florida is worth at least double what it cost when it was originally purchased. Since there is no big scene down here, prices are high and the product is generally weaker as it gets stomped on when it comes down south. When you are paying more money for a sub-par product (assuming you can find it at all) it makes sense to stay on pharmies instead, even if the cost is higher.
Click to expand...

There has been and continues to be plenty of heroin in Miami--regularly priced bundles and all.

(lurkers DO NOT pm me asking about where)
 
23536 said:
There has been and continues to be plenty of heroin in Miami--regularly priced bundles and all.

(lurkers DO NOT pm me asking about where)
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There is always going to be dope around for people "in the know", and that is true of every big city. I never said there was no heroin in the south.

How about outside of Miami? The vast majority of Floridians don't live in Miami. And can the Miami scene even be remotely compared to the Northeast scene?

Here is long thread discussing this exact topic for anyone interested in the nitty gritty of the heroin trade in the south.
 
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I love how the politician/media reaction to something like this is always: "oh wait so busting dealers doesn't make addicts stop wanting drugs? Who would've guessed?"
 
nervousone said:
This isn't completely true. In cities in the Northeast where heroin is a prevalent street drug it is very common for people to quit using pills and get on dope instead. Dope is much more cost effective and someone is very likely to use heroin if they can't find their pharmie drug of choice (oxy, etc)

Like previously mentioned, Florida has never had a big heroin scene. There aren't open air drug markets where you can just cop a bundle, you actually have to know someone "in the scene" to get heroin. If heroin were openly available and distributed in the Southeast like it is in the Northeast there would be many more people on heroin. None of the states in the SE US have a very big heroin scene for whatever reason.

Also, a bundle worth of heroin bought in any of the major NE cities and brought down into Georgia or Florida is worth at least double what it cost when it was originally purchased. Since there is no big scene down here, prices are high and the product is generally weaker as it gets stomped on when it comes down south. When you are paying more money for a sub-par product (assuming you can find it at all) it makes sense to stay on pharmies instead, even if the cost is higher.

The dynamics are simply different in different regions on the country.
Click to expand...

+1 good post.
 
wiggi: whats the best pain management clinci in georgia ill book my flight tomorrow

jk


no there isnt alot of heroin in Florida and im surprised it hasnt happened yet but all the factors are there for the making, there are plenty of opiate addicts, there are lots of puerto ricans, puerto rico is a huge hub for columbian drugs and puerto rico itself has a large dope problem so im surprised it hasnt happened yet but it doesnt mean it wont
 
I live in central fl and i hear about heroin more and more lately. The pill game is all messed up so more people are turning to h. But like someone else said we just dont have the same distribution capability as they have up north. Down here if your making to much money your gonna get busted unless your extremely smart about things
 
there are a decent amount of ppl i know that moved to fl to get clean and ended up relapsing and they were able to get dope no problem. I too thought all the ppl that lost their pain rx would turn to dope but it makes sense it would just move to anothwer state. There has got to be a lot of heroin in atlanta since its one of the us's biggest drug hubs.
 
'medicine cabinet' said:
there are a decent amount of ppl i know that moved to fl to get clean and ended up relapsing and they were able to get dope no problem. I too thought all the ppl that lost their pain rx would turn to dope but it makes sense it would just move to anothwer state. There has got to be a lot of heroin in atlanta since its one of the us's biggest drug hubs.
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90%+ of all the heroin trade in atlanta is done in one single neighborhood (which is labeled a HIDTA by the DEA). Coke/crack/meth/weed are everywhere in the city but the heroin trade is segregated for whatever reason.
 
When Will they learn... Taking away one small source of drugs will never stop junkies from getting high.
 
For every action, there's a reaction.

Take away my oxy, I'll smack myself.
 
The pain clinics are still here in South Florida. Not so many as compared to 2-3 years ago.
But they are under more scrutiny and can't prescribe without a valid MRI to document injuries.
Plus, they cannot dispense pills like before which yielded them big profits. I had seen ads on Craigslist
recruiting pain doctors. The salaries were unreal, how could they resist for a part-time gig?
 
Its simple when one area shuts down, cops start cracking down etc etc. The people running these things will just pack up and move else where. This will never change.
 
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