Governor Jay Inslee has signed into law an omnibus bill addressing the opioid abuse disorder.

Sponsored by Senator Annette Cleveland (D-Vancouver) and backed by Washington Retail, the new law has two very important provisions relating to pharmacies and retail theft.

The first requires that all controlled substances prescriptions, such as opioids pain relievers, must be sent electronically by a doctor to a pharmacy.  This will:

• reduce the incidents of over-prescribing,
• reduce errors from hand-written prescriptions
• speed the process of filling the prescription and
• save money by not having to manually record and fill the prescription.

For these reasons, Washington Retail believes all prescriptions should be electronic. We will work toward that goal in the future.

The second provision that will have a positive impact addresses diversion programs for treatment.  Many opioid-addicted individuals turn to retail theft to fund their habit.  Organized retail crime rings prey on addicts and put them in harms way knowing they will do just about anything to get money for a fix.This bill seeks to break that cycle by getting the addicts the drug and substance abuse treatment they need to become clean.

WR applauds Senator Cleveland and the Governor for their dedication and efforts to address this important issue.