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FRANKFORT (AP) - Gov. Steve Behear and other state leaders are pressing for a coordinated effort to battle prescription abuse that is blamed for an estimated 82 overdose deaths per month in Kentucky.

Beshear was joined at a news conference Monday by Attorney General Jack Conway, House Speaker Greg Stumbo and Senate Majority Leader Robert Stivers II to push for legislation aimed at "battling the scourge" of prescription abuse, saying it should be a top priority for the legislative session.

They highlighted two bills in particular. One would require all Kentucky physicians to use the state's prescription monitoring system, known as KASPER, and another would require all pain management clinics in the state to be owned by physicians.

(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)