Associated Press
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia’s attorney general is calling for 150 more state troopers and 50 more investigators to help stem the flow of illegal drugs fueling the state’s addiction crisis.
Attorney General Patrick Morrisey says a full overnight shift on the state’s highways is important to a law-enforcement effort that’s gotten “short shrift” on resources.
Morrisey says court settlements from pharmaceutical companies and Medicaid fraud cases could offset the expense.
He’s urging a three-day limit on initial painkiller prescriptions. Several state lawmakers and Gov. Jim Justice are advocating limits.
Morrisey, now running for U.S. Senate, is also calling for a drug investigation unit within the attorney general’s office, requiring doctors to check the state’s drug-monitoring data base with every opioid prescription and legal protections for doctors who decline requests for pain medications.