Republicans and Democrats in the Iowa House are promising to address the “very challenging” opioid epidemic. House Speaker Linda Upmeyer, a Republican from Clear Lake, says there’s been an increase in overdoses from prescribed drugs as well as from heroin — the drug some turn to after becoming addicted to a prescription medication.

Republicans in the House have introduced a bill to address “doctor shopping” by forcing ALL medical professionals who can prescribe controlled substances to register all prescriptions on a state-run website. Only 45 percent of prescribers are registered to use the prescription monitoring program today. Representative Shannon Lundgren, a Republican from Peosta, says there’s been a “large reduction” in opioid prescriptions in the 26 states that already have this requirement.

Requiring digital rather than hand-written prescriptions that can be altered is also part of the House G-O-P plan. House Republicans plan to support a so-called “Good Samaritan” law that shields people who call 9-1-1 to report an overdose from prosecution if they are using drugs, too.