Nineteen states already have prescription-drug monitoring that allows officials to keep an eye on patients who doctor shop – go from physician to physician amassing pain pills that they either abuse or sell so someone else can. Without the information provided by the monitoring, doctors cannot hope to keep track of which patients are doing this; with the system, Maine can seriously slow the abuse of prescription medication.

The state’s Office of Substance Abuse expects to hear in the next several weeks whether it won a Department of Justice grant worth $300,000 to establish a monitoring system. Already it is trying to work out privacy issues; the law enabling this program makes misuse of private information a crime punishable by jail time. This is a difficult problem, one that some other states have ignored but that Maine should respect even as it pushes forward with this important program.

The monitoring system would allow physicians and others who prescribe scheduled drugs to go on a web site and check to ensure their patient has not gotten an unusual number of similar prescriptions elsewhere. It will also allow the Substance Abuse Office to see where certain doctors are misprescribing medication. The burden for much of this valuable system would fall on pharmacists, who would need to submit data on all prescriptions filled.

Other states that have had similar programs in place for several years have experienced drops of about 50 percent of prescription-drug abuse, according to Kim Johnson, director of the office. For the relatively modest cost – the DOJ grant would cover the entire startup cost of the program – the results promise a huge savings in lives lost, crime averted and quality of life improved. If for some reason the federal grant does not come through, the state should pursue the system on its own.

Sen. Susan Collins, who recently held a hearing in Bangor on prescription-drug abuse, pointed out to DOJ that Maine “has invested considerable resources in collecting and assessing data to fully understand the extent and nature of drug diversion. It has mandated the use of tamper-proof prescription pads and has educated providers about the tactics employed by those intending to commit prescription fraud. It has increased the criminal penalties for trafficking in prescription drugs.” While all of these steps are important, none would be as effective as the monitoring system, with proper respect for privacy, in reducing abuse.

Maine is catching up to other states to get a system in place. The Baldacci administration should make sure this happens with or without the grant.