Conway supports tweaking to pill bill; says fiscal cliff could hurt Ky.'s efforts on drugs

Attorney General Jack Conway is among the growing chorus of Kentucky officials who say legislators must revise the law aimed at curbing prescription pill abuse to reduce the unintended consequences on law-abiding citizens.

The General Assembly passed the law in April aimed at curbing prescription pill abuse. The law tightens restrictions on pain clinics. But it also called for additional regulations and oversight of doctors who prescribe drugs.

But increasingly the new rules and regulations that have followed the law’s implementation have come under fire. That has prompted the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure to scale back some of them, as the Courier-Journal reported.

Conway told Pure Politics on Friday that he believes the General Assembly might have to revisit the issue when the General Assembly convenes in January.

Meanwhile, like other programs that receives federal funding, Kentucky drug task forces could be at risk if Congress allows the nation to go over the fiscal cliff at the end of the year, setting into motion deep, across-the-board spending cuts, Conway said.

Conway, who is finishing his fifth year as attorney general, said federal Byrne Grants have funded regional and local drug task forces. And he said those could be at risk:

Kentucky has been battling methamphetamine as well as prescription pain pill abuse. And in the last few years heroin has been on the rise.

Conway said Kentuckians and increasingly turning to heroin as pain pills become more difficult to get.