Rx Drug Abuse Summit in Florida, organized by Ky. group, set to start as lobbying on ‘pill-mill bill’ continues to ramp up

As a bipartisan group of political leaders pushes the General Assembly to pass a bill Thursday that would crack down on “pill mills” that contribute to prescription drug abuse, Eastern Kentucky’s Operation UNITE has organized a national summit in Florida.

The event starts tomorrow in Orlando and is expected to draw 700 people. “I think it’s important because Kentucky’s not an island … This truly needs to be a national effort, standing up against the problem,” Karen Kelly, president and CEO of Operation UNITE, which serves Eastern Kentucky’s Fifth Congressional District, told Ungar.

Today, 15 business lobbying groups issued a press release calling on the legislature to pass the bill, noting that it would “limit direct dispensing of narcotics at a physician’s office to no more than a 48-hour supply. This will help control the supply of narcotics and allow for better monitoring of prescription drug abuse.” Dave Adkisson, president and CEO of the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, said in the release, “Businesses large and small, rural and urban are all experiencing cost increases due to prescription drug abuse. Drug abuse is not only a social problem, it is a bottom-line business issue for Kentucky employers.”

Besides the Chamber, other groups joining in the release were the Kentucky Association of Manufacturers, Associated General Contractors, the Home Builders Association of Kentucky, Kentuckians for Better Transportation, the Kentucky Coal Association, Coal Operators and Associates, the Kentucky chapter of the National Federation of Independent Businesses and local chambers in Louisville, Lexington, Northern Kentucky, Southeast Kentucky, Christian County and Hardin County.