A Senate panel has delayed a vote on a bill that would crack down on pain management clinics.

The Senate Judicial Committee could vote by next week on an amended version that requires all pain management clinics operating in Kentucky to be owned by physicians licensed in Kentucky and be certified in pain management.

Republican Sen. Jimmy Higdon of Lebanon said prescription drug abuse has grown so rampant that the legislature needs to take action to curb supplies of the powerful painkillers that have become drugs of choice in Kentucky.

Higdon said more people died in Kentucky last year from drug overdoses than in car wrecks. He said he wants lawmakers to make clear that pill mills aren't welcome in Kentucky.