PORTLAND - Gov. Ted Kulongoski on Thursday asked the federal government to give Oregonians access to affordable prescription drugs from Canada.

Kulongoski said he sent a letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, requesting a federal waiver to allow Oregon to import the drugs.

"With health care costs escalating, far too many Oregonians - especially seniors - are unable to afford the medications they need," Kulongoski told a dozen seniors at the Rosewood Family Health Center in Portland. "No Oregonian should have to choose between paying for food, shelter or their medication."

Kulongoski said Oregon already has the tools in place to import high-quality, low-cost prescription drugs from Canada. He called on the federal government to respond within 30 days.

Also Thursday, the governor announced the Pioneer Prescription Drug Project, aimed at giving Oregonians access to Canadian drugs through their local pharmacies.

The proposal comes after the governor's announcement in May that he was working with the state Board of Pharmacy to develop a plan to ensure the safety and affordability of imported drugs.

Under the proposal, Oregon pharmacists would only be allowed to import products approved by the Board of Pharmacy and supplied by approved Canadian wholesalers. The board would license and inspect the Canadian pharmaceutical companies to ensure they meet the same safety standards required of U.S. wholesalers.

The Pioneer Project would only cover drugs that cost substantially more in the United States, with a focus on brand-name medications, Kulongoski said. That list would include 50 to 60 drugs.

Oregon is the first state to limit its proposal to local pharmacies and Canadian wholesalers, and the first to follow new Medicare guidelines, said Gary Schnabel, executive director of the state Board of Pharmacy.

In doing so, Oregon hopes to succeed where other states failed. The Food and Drug Administration has repeatedly denied requests to import drugs from Canada, prompting Vermont to file a lawsuit against the federal agency.

Kulongoski said Oregon may also file suit if its waiver is denied. Or it could follow the leads of Illinois, Minnesota and other states by creating an online clearinghouse of overseas pharmacies where residents can purchase drugs.

"There is an importation program in place, but it isn't endorsed by the United States government," he said, noting many Americans now order prescription drugs over the Internet or even cross U.S. borders to buy cheaper medications.

Robert Kennedy, 77, and his 74-year-old wife, Arlene, usually stop by Mexico to buy prescription drugs when they winter in Yuma, Ariz., they said after the governor's speech.

Arlene Kennedy said the couple saves 50 percent or so. Fosamax, an osteoporosis medication that costs more than $50 in the United States, goes for $27.99 in Mexico, she said.

Schnabel said state pharmacy board and other government agencies have long frowned on foreign drugs as less safe as their American counterparts.

"Canadian drugs aren't bad. We know that people aren't dropping dead in Canada," Schnabel said. "The problem is the distribution."

He said there has been ample evidence of Canadian companies selling drugs manufactured outside of Canada, where production standards may be more lax.

The Pioneer Project would ensure that the prescription drugs being sold to Oregonians were made in the United States or Canada, he said.

If the federal waiver is approved, Oregon pharmacies could be doling out Canadian drugs in three to four months, said Dr. Bruce Goldberg, who heads the Office for Oregon Health Policy and Research.