Tagged: drugs

Crittenden County Schools officials have updated their drug prevention policy by adding random K9 searches of the schools.  Board of Education members voted to change the current random drug testing policy this week. Director of Pupil Personnel Al Starnes says there were growing drug problems at the school despite random tests. The board hopes the K9 program will be a better deterrent. Starnes says,

Illinois lawmakers looking for ways to cut expenses in the state’s Medicaid program may consider the big-ticket cost of prescription drugs as a tempting target. Prescriptions cost the Illinois Medicaid program more than $1 billion a year. Medicaid covers drugs for a wide variety of illnesses, from asthma to schizophrenia, for the poor and disabled. Legislators are looking at other states for ideas. Tennessee, for example, limits adults to five prescriptions each month.

A bill that would allow random drug testing of welfare recipients was the subject of legislative boycotts and hearings today.

House Bill 26 is sponsored by Republican representative Lonnie Napier, who says the bill does not unfairly target anyone and would help rid drug abuse from those who benefit from government programs.

The bill was never expected to come for a vote in committee, leading Napier’s fellow Republicans on the panel to boycott the meeting.

The US 60/62 Mississippi River Bridge at Cairo will reopen tomorrow after being shut down for over a year.

Kentucky Politics:

House Bill 335 sponsored by state Representative Joni Jenkins would require drug and alcohol support to receive extra training to be licensed in that field.

The Kentucky House Judiciary Committee has overwhelmingly passed two bills to overhaul the state's fight against drugs.

One bill deals with synthetic drugs. It would ban the manufacture of any drug that simulates an illegal substance or that contains certain chemical compounds.

The second bill is an overhaul of the KASPER system, which monitors prescription drugs. The bill puts KASPER under the Attorney General's office and requires the board of medical licensure to crack down on reports that prescriptions are being over prescribed.