Senate Clears Bill Aimed at Prescription Drug Abuse

Senate Bill 365 was cleared Tuesday by the West Virginia Senate. This bill would require "all retail pharmacies to provide their personnel online access to the West Virginia Controlled Substance Monitoring Program." This means that all doctors and pharmacists in the state would have access to The West Virginia Controlled Substances Monitoring Database. This database is able to track prescribed controlled substances. While the bill does not solve drug abuse entirely, Senators Evan Jenkins and Ron Stollings believe it is a start in the right direction. Senate Bill 365 is among eight pieces of legislation concerning drug abuse that have been introduced during this session. Three of these bills have already passed through the Senate and two more are up for a vote today. Senate bill 514 is one of these bills. It would require physicians to report controlled substances whenever they are prescribed. Prescribing medications electronically would fix the problem; however, federal law prohibits controlled substances from being prescribed electronically.