Senate committee discusses possible statewide prescription drug monitoring program

The Senate Committee on Transportation, Infrastructure and Public Safety is discussing Senate Bill 314, establishing the narcotics control act.

The act would require the Department of Health and Senior Services to establish and maintain a program to monitor the prescribing and dispensing of all schedule II, III, and IV controlled substances in the state of Missouri.

Missouri is currently the only state in the country with a prescription drug monitoring program. However, Saint Louis County has started its own database that other cities and counties have joined, including Columbia, St. Louis City and Jackson County.