SD25 - Carry-over Projects of Drug Study Task Force

  • Published: 1992
  • Author: Virginia State Crime Commission
  • Enabling Authority: Senate Joint Resolution 205 (Regular Session, 1991)

Executive Summary:
The Virginia State Crime Commission's 21-member Drug Study Task Force spent two years developing 65 anti-drug projects targeted at law enforcement and prosecution, treatment, corrections and drug prevention education in the schools and communities. A few projects could not be completed satisfactorily by December, 1990. SJR 205 directed the Commission to complete the following carry-over projects in 1991:

A. Pharmaceutical Drug Diversion

The Law Enforcement Subcommittee of the Drug Study Task Force began its study of pharmaceutical drug diversion in 1990. At that time, the subcommittee requested that a staff study be conducted in cooperation with the Virginia Department of State Police and Department of Health Professions. The Crime Commission agreed to retain a technical consultant to help the pharmaceutical drug diversion study group develop data resources and conduct statistical analyses to determine the extent of the pharmaceutical drug diversion problem in Virginia.

The pharmaceutical drug diversion study group, composed of Commission Staff Attorney Dana Schrad and three members each from the Department of State Police and Department of Health Professions, held two information-gathering conferences in 1990 and 1991 during the course of the study. On November I, 1990, representatives from Virginia state agencies that gather pharmaceutical drug-related investigative information presented their data programs to the work study group. These data programs became the means for the technical consultant, Dr. Thomas Wan of MCV/VCU, to determine how data already gathered in Virginia may reveal trends in pharmaceutical drug use or diversion.

On April 23, 1991, the pharmaceutical drug diversion study group conducted a conference with representatives from several states to hear testimony on the types of pharmaceutical drug diversion interdiction programs that have been adopted in the United States. The group also heard testimony from health professionals, pharmacists and federal law enforcement agencies concerning their policy positions on different intervention programs.

Based on the data collected and monthly meetings to determine strategy, the pharmaceutical drug diversion study group concluded its study in August, 1991. The Department of State Police and the Department of Health Professions each submitted findings and recommendations to the Commission staff. Additionally, the Department of Health Professions compiled an extensive technical report on the data and research collected during the course of the study, which may be published as a resource document for other states. The recommendations from the pharmaceutical drug diversion study were developed from recommendations offered by the Department of State Police, Department of Health Professions and Crime Commission staff.

B. Drug Law Enforcement Efforts

The Virginia Department of State Police worked on a number of projects for the Crime Commission's Drug Study Task Force concerning drug law enforcement efforts. Many of the studies focused on the development and expansion of Virginia's multi-jurisdictional task force program, which unites the Virginia State Police and a number of contiguous local jurisdictions in shared undercover drug investigations. As carry-over projects, the Department of State Police reported to the Drug Issues Subcommittee in 1991 on:

1.) the development of semi-annual workshops for the multi-jurisdictional task force members to provide specialized training and allow networking of the state's 23 task forces;

2.) the enhancement of the Virginia Narcotics Pointer Index System to improve the quality of drug investigative information on the system, and encourage its use by local law enforcement agencies;

3.) the securing of federal grant funds to computerize each of the multijurisdictional task forces to improve their case management and information-gathering abilities;

4.) the results of a manpower study of the state and local drug task forces;

5.) the results of a study of task force target and case prioritization; and

6.) the results of a study to determine the need for development of a statewide pool of vehicles for undercover investigations.

C. Youth and Drug Gangs

The Law Enforcement Subcommittee of the Drug Study Task Force studied the problem of youth and drug gangs to determine the best way to prevent gang development in Virginia. A Commission staff survey in 1990 of local law enforcement agencies revealed only small pockets of gang activity, mostly located in the urban areas. The survey also revealed a lack of law enforcement training in gang identification and investigation.

In 1991, the Commission staff began working with the Norfolk Police Department, the only law enforcement agency in Virginia with an organized Youth Gang Unit. Investigators Patrick Dunn and Randy Crank recommended that training be offered in Virginia for local law enforcement agencies to learn how to identify and investigate gang activity. With assistance from the Drug Policy Office of the Governor, the Norfolk Police Department Youth Gang Unit now is working with the Department of Criminal Justice Services and the Department of State Police to develop and deliver training to state police and local law enforcement officers.

D. Substance Abuse Treatment in the Jails

During 1990, the Virginia State Crime Commission worked with the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services on the creation of a substance abuse treatment/jail services project. After study by the Commission and recommendation by the Department, the Department agreed to designate $1.6 million in federal funds from the Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Services Block grant to provide one substance abuse counselor to each of the state's 40 Community Services Boards. The boards established the substance abuse counselor positions specifically to provide treatment services to the local and regional jails. The Department of Mental Health in 1991 surveyed the Community Services Boards to develop a progress report for the Crime Commission. Follow-up training meetings were held with jail officials and the jail counselors in the five Health Service Area regions across Virginia. The Boards, local jail sheriffs and regional jail administrators reported very positive progress and success with the jail services project.

The Department and the Community Services Boards, in planning for the 1992 fiscal year, agreed to designate $641,281 in new federal funds to provide 18.5 additional substance abuse treatment counselor positions for the jail services project.

E. Coordination with the Office of the Governor

Since 1990, the Virginia State Crime Commission has been working with the Drug Policy Office of the Governor on the development of anti-drug strategies in Virginia and implementation of special projects and programs. Mr. Robert Northern, Special Assistant to the Governor for Drug Policy, has collaborated with the drug study staff of the Commission on development of and funding for statewide School/Community Team Training for local education and community officials. This training program assists localities in developing drug prevention and intervention programs, particularly those targeted for high-risk youth. The Commission and Governor's Office worked together with Staunton Chief of Police Grafton Wells and Lee-Davis High School Principal Charles Rembold to develop training and curricula for the PULSAR program. PULSAR is an interactive drug education and rehabilitation program for high-risk youth created in Staunton that now is being adopted by communities across Virginia.

The Governor's Drug Police Office continues to involve the Crime Commission in development of state-wide anti-drug conferences and in coordination of policies concerning education, treatment and law enforcement. Many of the projects initiated by the Commission during its two-year task force study have been adopted by the executive branch agencies. The Governor's Drug Strategy, released in 1991, closely parallels the strategy developed by the Commission's drug study task force.

SJR 205 Recommendations:

A. Pharmaceutical Drug Diversion

Recommendation 1:

• Professional education for health professionals should include information on appropriate prescribing practices that stresses prescribing medications only for legitimate needs, and make current and future prescribers of controlled substances aware of current research related to pain management and other appropriate uses of narcotic, analgesic and psychotropic medications. This education should be implemented in the state's medical schools, and should include proper dispensing practices for pharmacists.

• Professional education also should be made available in the current trends of pharmaceutical drug diversion to make health professionals more aware of diversion techniques and fraudulent practices, such as doctor shopping and prescription theft and forgery.

Recommendation 2:

• A comprehensive training program for the judiciary and Commonwealth's Attorneys should be developed on the impact of pharmaceutical drug diversion on Virginia's overall drug crime problem.

• Current training programs for law enforcement officers in Virginia on pharmaceutical drug diversion should include presentations at the in-service schools on the relationship between pharmaceutical drug diversion and the overall drug crime problem in Virginia.

• The Department of Criminal Justice Services should evaluate the quality and appropriateness of the training provided for Department of Health Professions investigators, and report findings and recommendations to the Virginia State Crime Commission by December, 1992.

• Educational efforts should be developed to promote better understanding of the appropriate use of prescription drugs and of the problem of pharmaceutical drug diversion, directed to the judiciary, the media and to the general public, as well as to authorized prescribers and dispensers of controlled substances and regulatory and enforcement personnel.

Recommendation 3:

Existing data systems for estimating and detecting pharmaceutical drug diversion should be complemented with better use of Medicaid claims data and other emerging data sources, such as private and public drug utilization review systems, to foster a better understanding of the extent and characteristics of diversion. To that end, it is recommended that coordination among the Department of Health Professions, Department of State Police, Department of Medical Assistance Services and other appropriate agencies regarding investigative information be continued and enhanced.

Recommendation 4:

The Virginia State Crime Commission, with the assistance of the Department of State Police and the Department of Health Professions, should monitor and evaluate the interactive point of sale program being implemented in other states. The interactive point of sale program is a comprehensive monitoring program that collects information through pharmacy computers to aid in diversion investigations. The data collected could be used to detect indiscriminate prescribing/dispensing, doctor shopping and possible invalid Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) numbers. Evidence of cost-effectiveness, program efficiency of the existing programs in other states and privacy issues concerning confidential records should be documented. Findings and recommendations should be reported to the Virginia State Crime Commission by December, 1992.

Recommendation 5:

Amend Code of Virginia § 54.1-3405 to require the Department of Health Professions to report information which constitutes evidence of illegal distribution, possession or obtaining of controlled drugs to the Department of State Police for criminal investigation purposes.

NOTE: During the 1992 General Assembly session, the House Courts of Justice Committee requested that the Virginia State Crime Commission research the laws and regulations governing access to pharmacy computer records, and report to the Committee during the 1993 General Assembly session.

Recommendation 6:

Amend Code of Virginia to enact a new section to prohibit the release by the Department of Health Professions of medical and treatment records of health practitioners obtained from programs treating impaired practitioners.

Recommendation 7:

Amend Code of Virginia § 18.2-308.4 to extend the prohibition of possession of a firearm while in the illegal possession of all Schedule I and II controlled substances. Presently, only Schedule I and cocaine-related materials are included in this statute. Methamphetamine is a Schedule II drug of choice of outlaw motorcycle gangs which have been shown to possess firearms that presently is not included in this Code section. Additionally, amend section to replace "firearms" with "weapons as described in § 18.2-308A."

Recommendation 8:

Amend Code of Virginia § 18.2-255 to extend the enhanced penalties for distribution to a minor to include distribution of Schedule IV and V drugs. Presently, this statute only provides enhanced penalties for the illegal distribution of Schedule I through III drugs and marijuana to minors.

B. Drug Law Enforcement Efforts

Recommendation 8:

The Department of State Police should continue to conduct semi-annual training conferences for the multi-jurisdictional task forces in cooperation with the Virginia State Crime Commission. The conferences should be jointly planned to target training needs identified by the multi-jurisdictional task force members.

Recommendation 9:

The Department of State Police should attempt to complete the computerization of the multi-jurisdictional task forces as scheduled in 1992, and submit a progress report to the Virginia State Crime Commission in 1992 on the computerization project.

C. Youth Gangs

Recommendation 10:

The Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) should develop a model curriculum addressing drug and youth gangs for Virginia's law enforcement officers.

DCJS should develop a standard curriculum which could be utilized on a statewide basis to enhance awareness of drug and youth gang activities and to suggest appropriate responses to it. Such instruction should be included in the Basic Law Enforcement Model Lesson Plan which serves as the core curriculum that must be successfully completed by all beginning state and local police officers and law enforcement deputy sheriffs. Additionally, DCJS should expand upon this basic curriculum in order to offer in-service instruction to state and local law enforcement officers already in the field. Appropriate subjects to be addressed include:

• Sections with Title 18.2 of the Code of Virginia which address crimes commonly committed by drug and youth gangs. (Examples include § 18.2-137 which relates to vandalism and under which graffiti cases may be prosecuted and § 18.2-308.1 which prohibits possession of firearms on school property.);

• The importance of working together and sharing information concerning known gangs and gang members and their illegal activities with neighboring law enforcement agencies; and

• The need to provide general information on gang activity and gang member identification techniques to school personnel as well as others in the community who work with youth on a regular basis.

D. Substance Abuse Treatment in Local Jails

Recommendation 11:

The Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services should develop training and technical assistance programs to better enable the jail substance abuse counselors to deliver appropriate services to clients in the local and regional jails.

Recommendation 12:

The Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services should report to the Virginia State Crime Commission in 1992 on the continued progress of the jail services project, and offer findings and recommendations to the Commission for further improvement and development of the project.

E. Coordination with the Office of the Governor

Recommendation 13:

The Virginia State Crime Commission, on behalf of the General Assembly, and the Drug Policy Office of the Governor should continue to work together to ensure coordination of anti-drug projects, avoid duplication of effort and promote efficient and effective use of state and local resources in anti-drug programs.

Recommendation 14:

The Drug Policy Office of the Governor should report annually to the Virginia State Crime Commission on its programs, policies, legislation and anti-drug project expenditures and grants.

Recommendation 15:

The Virginia State Crime Commission should report annually to the Drug Policy Office of the Governor concerning the Commission's anti-drug-related legislative reports and recommendations for the purpose of facilitating coordination of efforts.