BATON ROUGE - Prescriptions for highly addictive opioid drugs in Louisiana will be more difficult to obtain under bills signed into law by Gov. John Bel Edwards.

Edwards on Monday signed three bills that had breezed through the Legislature in the just-ended regular session. 

They include a measure requiring physicians to consult a statewide prescription monitoring system before prescribing opioid drugs to patients, some of whom may be "doctor-shopping."

Another law will limit first-time prescriptions for acute pain to seven days, down from 30. The law does not apply to chronic conditions. 

Edwards also signed a bill to establish a task force that will study how to prevent opioid abuse.