Does Georgia want to be known for our institutions of higher learning, our sports teams, our tourist attractions and our robust economy? Or as a prime source of "hillbilly heroin"?

Unless the Legislature and local jurisdictions around the state step up to the plate in a hurry, we may soon be best known for the latter.

"Hillbilly heroin" is the slang name for the heavy-duty, addictive pain medication known as Oxycodone. Police say it is dished out almost by the bucketful at the "pain clinics" springing up around the state, where it is sold legally for $3 or $4 per tablet. It then is transported to nearby states that have tougher restrictions in place and then resold for up to $60 per tablet, police say.

There are two kinds of pain clinics: the legitimate type, which typically are affiliated with a hospital, clinic or doctor's office; and the other kind. The clinics in question employ real doctors, but cater to "patients" from out of state, do not accept health insurance and take payment only in cash.

Such clinics popped up on local radar this winter when two Florida brothers opened the Pain Express clinic just off I-75 in Kennesaw. Police soon noticed lines of patients wrapped out the door and around the building, and noticed as well that most of the cars in the parking lot were from out of state.

That clinic was closed shortly after federal law enforcement officials raided three of the owners' similar clinics in Florida. It's also worth noting how lucrative that business is. Court documents in the case show the owners netted more than $14 million in cash in 2009.

To their credit, elected officials in Kennesaw and Marietta have been proactive in the case. Both have passed moratoriums on issuing licenses for such businesses until their city codes can be strengthened. And Cobb's other jurisdictions are reported to be following suit.

Said Marietta Mayor Steve Tumlin, "A three-month moratorium would give us time to see if Senate Bill 418 passes, and would then give us time to see what we can do to make sure these clinics don't come to Marietta," Tumlin said. "These clinics are bad for a city as they bring crime to the area that is certainly not wanted, but we have to make sure any changes we make in our city ordinances are Constitutional and well-defined because there are plenty of medical clinics that are legal and following the laws."

And Kennesaw Mayor Mark Mathews noted that, "We don't want to send the message to the medical community that they're not welcome in Kennesaw, because they are, but we need time to figure out how we can strengthen our ordinances to make sure this doesn't happen again."

At the state level, the Legislature is considering the Georgia Patient Safety Act, which would establish an electronic database of controlled drugs that are prescribed. The proposal has been criticized by privacy rights activists as being potentially intrusive. But the law notes that anyone caught scanning the database without a legitimate reason to be doing so would face a $250,000 fine and lengthy jail sentence. Moreover, similar laws are working well in neighboring states without anyone's rights being trampled. They're working so well, in fact, that those behind such pain clinics now see Georgia as an easy target.

It's time to nip this problem in the bud. Cobb's local jurisdictions are on the right path, and the Legislature should do its part as well.