A Georgia drug enforcement official said the number of pill mills in the state went from about five last year to about 50 earlier this year, with two to three new ones popping up each week now, according to a report by the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Interstate 75 through the state has been dubbed the "Oxy Express," the route people from Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia and Ohio have been taking to buy oxycodone at pill mills in Florida. Oxycodone has been called "hillbilly heroin" because of its popularity in Appalachia.
Following a crackdown on pill mills in Florida, Georgia has become an attractive haven for them because the state has been slow to implement measures like a statewide database to track prescriptions and tough regulations for pain clinics.
Read the Atlanta Journal Constitution report on pill mills.
Related Articles on the Crackdown on Pill Mills:
Agents' Sweep of South Florida Pain Clinics Nets 40,000 Pills
Florida Physician Gets 4 Years in Prison for Operating Pill Mill
Ohio Requires Pain Clinic Operators to Have Subspecialty Certification