“On July 17, professional politician and part-time governor Eric Greitens signed an executive order purporting to create a statewide prescription drug monitoring program after the Republican-controlled legislature’s repeated failure to do so. At the time, House Democrats’ questioned the governor’s ability to conjure a PDMP into existence via an executive order with no force of law.
“Our skepticism appears justified as to date the state Office of Administration still hasn’t entered into a contract to establish a PDMP and has given no indication as to when, or if, it will happen. In outlining his plan to address Missouri’s opioid addiction crisis, the governor declared: ‘The one thing we won’t do is wait. We won’t wait for this problem to get worse. That’s not an option.’ Yet more than 15 weeks later Missouri is still waiting for the governor’s actions to match his words.
“With the failure of the governor’s imaginary PDMP to materialize, Missouri remains the only state in the nation without one. When the General Assembly reconvenes in January, legislation to create a real PDMP must be one of the first bills sent to the governor’s desk. As the governor once noted, waiting for the opioid crisis to destroy more lives is not an option.”
House Minority Leader Gail McCann Beatty
D-Kansas City
