SENATOR PROPOSES BILL TO BAN DRUG

CHARLESTON -- Alarmed by rising medical costs and growing addictions in his
area, a southern West Virginia senator introduced a bill Monday that would
ban oxycodone, the main ingredient in the popular painkiller OxyContin.

Senate Majority Leader Truman Chafin, D-Mingo, introduced the bill (SB617)
on the final day for senators to propose legislation during this 60-day
regular session.

The bill would put oxycodone on the list of controlled substances that are
prohibited under West Virginia law. It would be placed on the list of opium
derivatives, which also includes heroin.

The bill was sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

OxyContin is the nation's top-selling narcotic painkiller. It is a 12-hour,
time-released medication meant to alleviate severe chronic pain, and
supporters laud its healing power for cancer patients and others with
debilitating ailments.

The drug's powerful ingredients have made it an increasingly popular street
commodity. The drug has been linked to more than 100 deaths nationwide.

State health care costs are also rising because of the drug's popularity,
officials say.

"People just can't handle it, and it's costing our state untold millions
already -- that's just dollars, not to mention destroyed lives," Chafin said.

Chafin said he was prompted to push the bill because OxyContin abuse is
becoming a tragic situation especially in southern West Virginia. A Mingo
County doctor pleaded guilty last week to prescribing the drug to a woman
who didn't need it.

Chafin doesn't expect the bill to breeze through the Legislature without
opposition. He said pharmaceutical manufacturers have made hundreds of
millions of dollars off OxyContin and similar drugs and will probably put
up a fight against banning it.

"I expect the pharmacy lobbyists might come running, we'll see," Chafin
said. "Anything that dangerous, that destructive, causes that much damage,
let's take a look at it."

Chafin's bill was one of about 85 introduced Monday as senators scrambled
to unveil new proposals for consideration during the final three weeks of
the session. More than 700 Senate bills were introduced this spring,
although only a small percentage of those will become law.

Among the ideas introduced Monday include a proposal from Gov. Bob Wise to
offer vehicle registration renewals over the Internet and the telephone.

The bill (SB637) would allow the Division of Motor Vehicles to create an
electronic mechanism to accept the proof of payment of personal property
taxes needed to renew vehicle registrations.

Keith Burdette, Wise's legislative director, said the bill is designed to
encourage electronic commerce and modernize state government.

"This is just part of the governor's ongoing efforts to bring the state
into the 21st century and to allow consumers a much more hassle-free
process by which they can do their licenses and permits and whatnot with
the state," Burdette said.

Wise is also pushing a bill (SB 635) to create a coordinating council for
financial aid options for college students. Burdette said the goal is to
create a better, simpler system for students who want or need grants to go
to college.

Other bills under consideration in the Senate include:

- -- SB669, which would prohibit the use of a public official's name on
public buildings or statues unless the public official is dead or older
than 70 and has been out of public office for at least five years.

- -- SB670, which would prohibit telemarketing on major holidays, including
Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter and New Year's Day.

- -- SB675, which would create a new state Board of Treasury Investments to
manage a consolidated fund of state operating funds. The board would offer
state government easier access to money in the fund and free up the
Investment Management Board to concentrate on long-term investments.

- -- SB684, which would require that publicly funded computers have devices
to screen out pornographic material.

- -- SB685, which would limit terms for state officers appointed by the
governor to two years.

- -- SB689, which would create a charitable gaming commission to oversee,
license and regulate charitable raffles and bingo. Prize caps, employee
compensation and legal proceed uses would be increased and expanded.