Tagged: pill mill

State lawmakers have approved two major pieces of legislation dealing with drug abuse in Kentucky.

House Bill 4 tightens regulations on prescription pills. It passed the full Senate Wednesday afternoon. Around the same time, the House passed Senate Bill 3, which caps the amount of pseudoephedrine Kentuckians can buy every month without a prescription. Since both bills were amended, they will now return to their original chambers, where lawmakers must decide whether to agree with the changes or send them to conference committees for compromises.

It’s been another busy week in the Kentucky General Assembly. On the agenda: the budget, drug testing and prescription painkillers. To summarize what happened and why,  Kentucky Public Radio Capitol Bureau Chief Kenny Colston talks politics with Rick Howlett.

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.

Governor Steve Beshear and other state officials reiterated the importance of a legislative package focused on fighting prescription drug abuse today (Mon). House Speaker Greg Stumbo filed House Bill 4 last week calling for tougher restrictions on pain management clinics and better use of the state’s prescription monitoring system. Stumbo calls the issue a bi-partisan effort.

“It doesn’t matter whose name is on it, it matters what names it saves down the road, what lives it affects, and how it has a positive impact on this problem. And I believe that it will.”