Vermont Senate and House conferees are continuing to disagree on whether police should be able to search a Health Department database on Vermonters’ drug prescriptions without a warrant.
House conferees yesterday stuck to their position that a search warrant should be required.
Senators are pushing for four specially trained drug investigators to have access to the information. Conferees met yesterday afternoon, agreeing on parts of the bill but not the warrant issue.
A Health Department official meanwhile says Vermont is facing an epidemic of prescription drug abuse.
Reports on the department’s website show prescription drug abuse steady or declining in the state in recent years, with drug related deaths down since 2006.