When Warren County Drug Task Force detectives seize methamphetamine or opioids from drug abusers, they often find gabapentin.

After years of increased abuse of gabapentin, sold under the brand name Neurotin, the anticonvulsant and nerve pain medication has joined the list of controlled substances in Kentucky.

Although gabapentin is not considered an addictive drug like OxyContin, it has the potential for abuse because of the euphoric highs it can produce, especially when used with other drugs.

As of July 1, gabapentin has been placed on the state controlled substances list as a Schedule 5 controlled substance in Kentucky. The change was announced in a notice from the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services through the Office of the Inspector General.

For Sgt. Tod Young of the Warren County Drug Task Force, it’s a welcome change. The drug isn’t known to directly cause overdoses, he said, but it could contribute to them.

“I can see where using it in addition to other illicit drugs, especially opioids, can lead to overdoses just simply due to the fact that gabapentin will increase or enhance the high or euphoria that you get from an opioid,” Young said.

The number of prescriptions written for gabapentin hit 57 million nationwide in 2015, according to a report from the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics. The drug is most often used to treat conditions that produce neuropathy or epilepsy. However, drug abusers illegally divert it for recreational use, and police have seized it during many arrests.

That was the case recently for Bowling Green police after an officer stopped a woman suspected of driving under the influence.

During a strip search at the Warren County Regional Jail, a deputy jailer found 36 pills – 10.5 suspected diazepam, two gabapentin and 24 suspected hydrocodone – and a white powder substance in a plastic sandwich bag that was inside the woman’s body.

“We saw an uptick in this probably over a year ago or so,” Young said of the drug’s use. “Tracking will be more of a priority now that it’s been scheduled.”

For medical practitioners dispensing the drug, that means more restrictions. Practitioners must be licensed and registered with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to dispense a controlled substance.

Any existing orders for gabapentin, including prescription refills, issued by a practitioner without a DEA registration will no longer be valid, according to the notice. Existing orders issued by a practitioner with a DEA registration won’t be affected, except that existing prescriptions will expire after five refills or six months after it was prescribed. The drug’s new status also means samples will no longer be distributed in Kentucky and physician assistants are no longer allowed to prescribe it.

Jerry Lucas, director of Kentucky operations for JourneyPure QuestHouse, a local treatment center, said much of the gabapentin abuse is tied to opioid use and its ability to boost highs.

“It was being abused along with opiates because opiates were so hard to get,” he said.

– Follow education reporter Aaron Mudd on Twitter @BGDN_edbeat or visit bgdailynews.com.