Officials Urge Passage of Prescription Drug Legislation

From Brenna Angel, Kentucky Public Radio Governor Steve Beshear and other state officials are touting a legislative proposal that focuses on fighting prescription drug abuse. 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, and other lawmakers have filed similar bills. 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.”A recovering drug addict also spoke at a Monday press conference on the legislation. Crystal says she got hooked on pain killers while working as a nurse.“Any step to prevent more overdoses. I have lots of friends that have died from this, and I’m very fortunate that I had somewhere to go.”Officials say they are confident the prescription drug proposals can pass both the House and Senate, despite the General Assembly also dealing with the state budget and legislative redistricting.