Senators seek opioid limits for minors, ID requirement
- A trio of Nebraska lawmakers introduced bills Tuesday aimed at addressing the state’s growing problem of opioid addiction. Among their proposals was a limit on opioid prescriptions for minors and a requirement for people to show identification when picking up prescriptions. State Sens. Sara Howard and Brett Lindstrom, both of Omaha, have been touched by the issue personally. Howard’s sister died of a drug overdose in 2009 after getting addicted to the powerful painkillers. “We have a serious epidemic in this country, and we need to make some very tough decisions if we are to reduce the number of people getting addicted to these drugs,” she said. Although Nebraska has one of the lowest rates of drug overdose deaths in the nation, 120 people died of overdoses in 2016, primarily opioid-related.