MARIETTA, Ga.,None — With a new ordinance, Marietta is making it tougher for so-called pill mills to hand out powerful pain killers.
The new ordinance aims to inhibit addicts and pushers from getting prescription pain medicine from pill mills, store front clinics known to hand out pills with few questions asked.
Marietta Cracks Down On Pain Killer Hand-Outs
"You can basically walk in, pay $75 and walk out with either a large amount of drugs or a prescription for them," Marietta Police Chief Dan Flynn told Channel 2's Diana Davis.
After two Florida brothers opened Kennesaw's Pain Express clinic last year, police said the parking lot was quickly flooded with drug seekers, many with out-of-state plates. The clinic was later shut down after a raid by federal agents. The clinic prompted Flynn to push for the new law.
"We saw, based on Kennesaw's experience, that there is a threat to our public, and we need to act and not wait until these places are open and shoveling out large amounts of powerful drugs," Flynn said.
Marietta is the first Georgia city to pass a pill mill ordinance. It requires clinics to submit lists of doctors writing pain killer prescriptions, do license checks and more.
Georgia lawmakers are also considering legislation to establish a database that would alert doctors and pharmacists of patients shopping for large amounts of controlled substances. Georgia is the only southeastern state without the program. Florida's program went into effect Jan. 1.
Police said pill mills forced out of Florida by its new law will soon relocate to Georgia. The sponsors of the database legislation said that even though their bill hasn't made it through the last two sessions, they expect it to pass this year.
Officials from the state board of pharmacy and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said they would support statewide pill mill legislation.