Prescription drug abuse is being decried as the growing bane of the state of Tennessee. It's hard to argue with the perspective. Authoritative statistics indicate that instances of overdoses and deaths due to abuse of prescription pain relievers are on the rise. There are even indications, according to some, that costs associated with prescription drug abuse and treatment are getting to be worse than they are for illicit drugs and alcohol.

With the increase of concern have come pledges from government leaders to step up enforcement efforts. Recent news coverage suggests they are making good on those promises. One of the latest examples is the big sweep that took place in Lebanon last week that resulted in the arrests of 19 people. Police are leveling drug charges against them related to the illegal sale of prescription drugs.

Lebanon Police Chief Scott Bowen, cited in news reports, says that authorities actually had warrants for 29 people. He says a hunt continues for the 10 people who remain at large.

Like most of the recent drug operations launched by authorities, this one involved multiple agencies. Officials say there were representatives of the Lebanon police, Wilson County Sheriff's Department, state authorities and the FBI. They say that as a result of their raids they seized an array of prescription drugs such as oxymorphone and Roxicet. Amounts of marijuana, crack cocaine and some drug paraphernalia were also seized, they say.

Bowen acknowledges that most of those arrested in the recent raids are suspected of being low-level dealers. He says that was the target group they were after in this instance. He says the raids stemmed from an investigation that had been under way for about 15 months.

Source: The Tennessean, "Lebanon raid targets prescription drug abuse," Bob Smietana, Brian Haas, Feb. 18, 2012