STATE WOULD STUDY TRACKING OF PRESCRIPTIONS

Recommendations Would Be Given By 2004 Session

FRANKFORT - A state-wide task force would study Kentucky's system for
tracking prescription drugs and recommend improvements in time for the 2004
General Assembly under a resolution introduced this week.

House Majority Leader Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, introduced House
Concurrent Resolution 135, which would review the efficiency of KASPER, the
Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Reporting system.

The system monitors all controlled substances dispensed in Kentucky, and it
is a national model.

But because Eastern Kentucky is in the grip of a raging prescription-drug
abuse problem, officials say KASPER needs an upgrade to become more effective.

One proposal would devote about $1.5 million to improving the system --
perhaps enabling officials to use it to find places where the use of
prescription drugs is out of proportion to the population.

"This is a critical problem for Kentucky and one that needs to be dealt
with immediately," Stumbo said in a news release yesterday.

The task force would have 19 members. Stumbo said he hoped they would
"identify ways we can help rebuild the families and communities that have
been torn apart by this epidemic."

The group would also use KASPER data to analyze trends and problem areas in
prescription-drug abuse -- and find better ways for law-enforcement
agencies to use the system.

The panel would be appointed by Senate President David Williams and House
Speaker Jody Richards. It would include state officials; lawmakers;
prosecutors; police; defense attorneys; drug-abuse treatment providers;
citizens groups; and representatives of the Kentucky Medical Licensure Board.