MADISON — Gov. Scott Walker has signed a package of bills aimed at curbing opiate abuse.
The governor signed the bills during visits Thursday, March 17th to hospitals and medical centers around the state.
The package includes measures that would increase funding for treatment programs; criminalize the use of masking agents in drug tests; require health care providers to consult a database of prescription drug users before dispensing a monitored drug; allow regulatory boards to develop guidelines for prescribing drugs; and require state certification for pain clinics.
The eight pieces of legislation signed into law are as follows:
Assembly Bill 364 requires physicians to report prescriptions within 24 hours to Wisconsin’s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP), which will help prevent improper access to potentially deadly drugs.
Assembly Bill 365 strengthens the collaboration between doctors and law enforcement by allowing law enforcement to notify prescribing doctors through the PDMP that opioids prescribed by those doctors were stolen or resulted in an overdose or abuse.
Assembly Bill 366 provides additional oversight by the Department of Health Services and will ensure proper guidelines are in place and strictly followed at certain pain management clinics.
Assembly Bill 367 allows the Department of Health Services to collect data from methadone clinics and requires an annual report to ensure there is a full assessment of the clinics’ effectiveness in helping addicts stay sober.
Assembly Bill 658 criminalizes the use, possession, manufacture, distribution, and advertisement of substances and devices that interfere with a lawfully administered drug test.
Assembly Bill 659 streamlines Wisconsin’s regulations on opioid treatment programs to give more people access to treatment services.
Assembly Bill 660 gives some boards, such as the Medical Examining Board, the ability to issue prescribing guidelines for controlled substances.
Assembly Bill 766 strengthens the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) by requiring an annual review of its effectiveness.
Rep. John Nygren, a Marinette Republican, is pushing the package as part of a series of reforms to combat heroin and opiate abuse. His daughter, Cassie, has struggled with a heroin addiction for the last several years.
Attorney General Brad Schimel issued this statement on the signing of these bills:
CLICK HERE to learn more about the Wisconsin Department of Justice's "Dose of Reality" campaign, aimed at curbing heroin and prescription drug abuse.