Georgia has been awarded a $400,000 grant to implement a prescription drug monitoring program.

Thirty-seven states have prescription drug monitoring systems. Georgia has passed legislation to establish the program, but has not designated funding for it.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Rick Allen, who heads the Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency, says the Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Award will pay for the first two years of the state's operation.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation reports that prescription drug overdoses statewide claimed 584 lives in 2009, the most recent year for which data is available.

The goal for the database is to have it available to doctors and pharmacists beginning in January 2013.

Tags: drug abuse, prescription drug database, prescription drug abuse, prescription drug monitoring program, Georgia Drug and Narcotics Agency