Gov. Scott, AG Bondi Announce Pill Mill 'Strike Force'

Although Attorney General Pam Bondi hasn't yet convinced Gov. Rick Scott to get on board with the state's prescription drug monitoring program, they got together Monday to announce their support for a new tool to combat pill mills -- a statewide drug strike force.

Under the task force, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will coordinate with local law enforcement officials to target doctors who liberally prescribe oxycodone and patients who "doctor shop."

Scott and Bondi said they were determined to end the scourge of overdoses that have plagued the state and that were the result of legal prescription drug abuse.

"I am committed. That is my No. 1 mission in life right now," Bondi said of the pill mill fight.

Bondi said she has been working with officials throughout the state, as well as with the Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway on the issue, since law enforcement officials say criminals, addicts and patients come down to Florida via the "Oxycontin Express" to score powerful prescription painkillers that are only supposed to be dispensed to those in extreme pain, like cancer patients.

"They're going to spend 100 percent of their time on just this," Scott said. "We're not going to be known as the Oxycontin Express," he added.

Full story to follow.