BUCHANAN TO FILE LEGISLATION AIMED AT 'PILL MILLS'

SARASOTA - U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Bradenton, intends to announce
today that he will file legislation intended to crack down on "pill
mills" that provide prescription pain killers to addicts and drug dealers.

He has yet to release the details.

Buchanan held a public forum on Monday at which he, law enforcement
and a special state prosecutor asked the Legislature to start a
patient database that investigators say they need to monitor the drug
transactions and addicts who may be "doctor shopping."

The Legislature authorized the database two years ago but never funded
it. The state's Office of Drug Control and Department of Health raised
$500,000 in private contributions to operate the database in its
initial year.

Gov. Rick Scott, however, has urged the Legislature to repeal the law
and expressed concerns about privacy violations.

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