MADISON, Wis. (WSAU) — A package of four state bills designed to help combat the abuse of opiate prescription pain killers is ready for floor votes. The last of the bills passed the Senate’s Judiciary Committee unanimously Wednesday. That bill would require police who find an opiate prescription at an overdose scene to enter the information into a statewide database.
The other three drug fighting bills would require opiate dispensers to enter prescriptions into the database within 24 hours, require methadone and pain clinics to register with the state, and require treatment programs using methadone to report the number of people annually receiving the medication to the state.
Representative John Nygren is the lead author of the bills, designed to combat prescription drug abuse leading to heroin habits. It’s an issue that hits home for the Marinette lawmaker. Nygren’s 26-year-old daughter Cassie has battled heroin addiction for years, and has been in and out of jail because of drug convictions.
