Kentucky consistently tops surveys and research done about states with the highest drug abuse problems. Going hand in hand with that, Kentucky also tops charts in strict drug-related law enforcement.

With the FDA’s recent crack down on the categorization on certain drugs, it seems that the nation as a whole is just now catching up to the current regulations in place in Kentucky. This is made apparent in the case of many drugs (specifically perscription) being recategorized and/or having a harsher penalties for possession or sale. One of these is hydrocodone which has been treated as being in a higher regulatory category in Kentucky for some time.

The obvious problems that this causes with the different, looser regulations in states across the nation and with pharmaceutical facilities having to adapt to ever-changing and different kinds of regulations. But there’s another underlying problem that the FDA is not recognizing is that the new rules being imposed matches that of currently failing states, like Kentucky, which are not necessarily appropriate models for drug regulation going forward.

The flaws in the system currently in place in Kentucky are to be observed by the FDA and the DEA if they want the future of drug regulation in America to have a brighter outlook than our own state currently holds. To heed the warnings that Kentucky and several other states are exhibiting would best serve the FDA and the country at large.