Story highlights West Virginia has the highest rate of drug overdose deaths in the country

Manchin has forcefully backed Clinton

Charleston, West Virginia (CNN) Hillary Clinton on Tuesday backed Joe Manchin's plan to tax opiods, telling the West Virginia senator that his call to levy a 1-cent tax on prescription opioid pain pills was a "great idea."

Manchin, whose state is dealing with the highest rate of drug overdose deaths in the country, proposed earlier this year a tax of "1 cent on each milligram of active opioid ingredient in a prescription pain pill to be paid by the manufacturer or importer."

During a roundtable on opiod addiction here Tuesday morning, Clinton embraced the idea.

"I started looking, I said, 'You know what, we've got an alcohol tax on alcohol, we have a tobacco tax.' So I said, 'Why don't we have a one penny per milligram for every manufactured pharmaceutical that manufactures any opiates, just opiates?" Manchin said.

Clinton jumped in, adding: "Great idea. That's a great idea, Joe. That's a great idea."

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