McCaskill hopeful Greitens will call special session on drug monitoring program

While the new health care plan was a hot topic of discussion at U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill’s fifth and final town hall in Ashland Wednesday evening, she also discussed Missouri’s need for a prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP).

“I am astounded that we are the only state in the union that’s put out a welcome mat for heroin dealers,” she said. “I do not understand it. It is really mind bending.”

Missouri lawmakers were unable to pass a drug monitoring program during the regular legislative session. Missouri remains the only state in the country without a prescription drug database.

“If 49 states have taken this step, then there’s a reason why,” she said. “And I don’t think that we should be this stubborn, especially since we are facing down a killer, which is this drug that is devastating families across our state.”

Following the hour-long town hall Wednesday, McCaskill said she’s hoping Governor Eric Greitens calls another special session to pass a PDMP.

“I can’t imagine what topic for a special session would be more important,” she said. “I mean, these kids are dying all over the state — in rural communities, in urban areas.”

Since the regular legislative session ended in mid-May, the governor has called lawmakers back to Jefferson City for two special sessions.

The first special session included lowering utility rates to entice certain companies to come to Missouri. Greitens signed the “Steel Mill Bill” into law on June 15.

For more than a month, lawmakers have been discussing new abortion regulations in a second special session, but have yet to finalize anything for the governor to sign.

McCaskill said she doesn’t see the point of Greitens’ first two special sessions.

“It feels like this is a politician trying to get attention on an issue rather than trying to get down to the really hard work of how we fix the budget in Missouri,” she said.