JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Missouri state Sen. Rob Schaaf says he will end his opposition to a proposal establishing a statewide prescription drug monitoring program.

Schaaf on Tuesday announced that he will support a plan to create a statewide database for doctors to track prescriptions of painkillers and other controlled substances after years of vehement opposition. Missouri is currently the only state without such a database. That’s in large part because of Schaaf, who once killed a prescription monitoring proposal by filibustering it for more than eight hours.

Schaaf said he changed his mind due to a groundswell of support for such a proposal from the public, health care providers and law enforcement officers.

He said he will support the proposal if lawmakers add a provision requiring doctors to use it.