Horizons Fall 2015

17 NSU HORIZONS These can become the key points of focus for prevention efforts, as well as adapting special treatment needs and managing limited resources,” said Hall. Hall’s work at NSU is made possible by a community part- nership withThe United Way of Broward County Commission on Substance Abuse, The Miami Coalition for a Safe and Drug-Free Community, Palm Beach County Substance Aware- ness Coalition, and the Florida Department of Children and Families. In 2012, Hall joined the center, led by Stephen P. Kurtz, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Justice and Human Services in the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, because of its reputation as “one of the nation’s leading research groups studying substance-using populations, as well as health problems associated with substance abuse, whether that be infectious disease or other chronic conditions or consequences of abusing drugs,” Hall said. The Miami Coalition andThe United Way’s substance abuse coalitions use Hall’s data collection for databases accessible to health professionals, law enforcement, and the public at large. “[Hall’s] data enables us to turn information into action and also serves as an early warning system that allows us to provide comprehensive responses in the com- munity. Ultimately, it helps us to save lives,” said Gonzalo Cadima, senior director of The United Way of Broward County Commission on Substance Abuse. PRESCRIPTION DRUG USE AND ABUSE The epidemic of prescription drug abuse is alarming. The American Medical Association labeled the abuse of powerful narcotic painkillers—drugs such as Oxycontin and Vicodin— as a public health crisis in the United States, with 44 people dying daily from overdoses and many more becoming addicted. A report released in December 2014 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that fatal overdoses involving prescription narcotic painkillers tripled between 1999 and 2012. At the NSU College of Pharmacy, Hossein Omidian, Ph.D., professor, and David Mastropietro, Ph.D., assistant professor, both in the department of pharmaceutical science, are creat- ing a dosage formulation that will make some prescription medications resistant to crushing or liquefying. Some pre- scription painkillers are abused by those who intend to snort or inject the drugs. “We are making a product that is hard to abuse or be ingested in a way that wasn’t intended. It’s basically our way of combat- ing prescription drug abuse from a medication standpoint,” said Mastropietro. With Mastropietro’s background in pharmacy and Omid- ian’s chemistry engineering background, the two have com- bined their knowledge to create proprietary technologies in the area of tamper-proof medications. “Some people mix the crushed pills with fluid and inject the liquid for a quicker high, or they will break apart a 12-hour dose so it gets dumped out all at once,” said Mastropietro. Their abuse-deterrent formula can make certain pills crush resistant. They’ve also worked on a dosage formulation so that, if a pill is crushed then mixed with liquid, it would gel instantaneously, making it unable to be drawn into a syringe. Another formulation would leave the pill crushable, but would release a substance to bind the drug so it would not be able to be snorted or injected. “This may not stop prescription drug abuse, but maybe it will make a dent,” said Mastropietro. “There’s also a health issue we’re hoping to help prevent. If a drug is difficult to Linda Sobell and Mark Sobell developed interna- tionally recognized research on substance abuse.