During the state of the union this week, President Trump said lowering prescription drug prices is one of his top priorities.
On the state level, there are a few bills aiming to do the same thing.
Wednesday, Senator Irene Aguilar introduced the Wholesale Canadian Drug Importation Program to the State Senate's Veterans & Military Affairs committee.
The bill would require the state to design a program that could import prescription pharmaceuticals from Canada for sale to Colorado consumers.
It's aimed at drug manufacturers.
"Drugs in Canada can be up to 25 percent of the price of the drugs in the United States," said Aguilar, "so there are some significant savings to be had."
Aguilar, a Democrat, says some patients already import prescription drugs from out of the country.
The U.S. government doesn't like it because the FDA is only responsible for checking the safety of the drugs sold in the states, not the drugs being imported.
A study by Kaiser Family Foundation says it hasn't stopped 19 million Americans who purchase international drugs.
Senator Aguilar's bill would make imports legal in Colorado.
"I really don't understand what the political pushback," said Aguilar.
Republican Senator Owen Hill says it wouldn't make much sense to undertake a project like this if the federal government is already making this a priority.
"When a state isn't in line with what the federal government is doing," explained Hill, "often times that costs our constituents, that costs our consumers and our patients so much more so we need to make sure we work in conjunction on that front."
He's not sure yet if he'll support the import of drugs from Canada or not.
"Yes- we want to fix an important problem," said Hill, "I want to make sure this is the right solution to the problem and not something that will upend the entire structure that allows us to constantly be coming up with new solutions to really pressing problems that people face."
The committee is scheduled to take a vote on the Wholesale Canadian Drug Importation Program on Monday.
