State Senate panel approves anti-heroin bills

MADISON — A legislative committee has approved three anti-heroin bills.

The proposals would require opiate dispensers to enter prescriptions in a statewide database within 24 hours; create methadone and pain clinic registries; and require treatment programs that use methadone to report the number of people receiving the medication, plans for tapering patients off it and relapse rates.

The Senate's health committee approved all three measures on unanimous votes Tuesday, clearing the way for a floor vote in the chamber.

Rep. John Nygren, a Marinette Republican whose daughter is struggling with a heroin addiction, introduced the bills.

He has another bill that would require police who discover an opiate prescription at an overdose scene to enter it in the database. The health committee didn't address that bill since it deals with law enforcement.