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House Gives Unanimous Support To Heroin Bill

The Kentucky House has passed its version of legislation to combat the state's growing heroin problem.

With the 98-0 vote Friday on the sweeping anti-drug bill, the attention now turns to trying to resolve differences between the House and Senate versions.

The state's top lawmakers say combating the heroin scourge is one of the top issues of the legislative session that ends in March.

Much of the House debate focused on a provision that would let local governments create a needle exchange program for heroin users, allowing them to swap out dirty needles for clean ones.

An effort to remove the needle exchange provision was defeated.

The Senate's heroin bill does not allow for local needle exchange programs.

The House bill also would toughen penalties for high-volume traffickers.