COLUMBIA, S.C. - Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jim DeMint wants to combat the nation's soaring prescription drug costs with competition from other countries.

The three-term congressman said Wednesday he wants to open U.S. markets to prescription drug sales from Canada, the European Union and other nations. A bill he sponsored passed the House last year, but stalled in the Senate.

"Americans are now getting a raw deal," DeMint said. "Our own drug companies are selling drugs made in this country to Canada and European counties for half and even a third of what they sell it to us."

DeMint said local pharmacies should have the right to purchase prescription drugs at the lowest cost, whether it's from companies in America or another country.

"This is one way that we can reduce the cost of prescriptions for Americans and we need to pursue this aggressively," DeMint said.

Older Americans have flocked to Canada for prescription medications as drug prices in the United States have increased and fixed incomes have not kept up, advocates say.

Several states and cities also have turned to Canada to buy prescription drugs for workers or made it easier for residents to hook up with Canadian Internet pharmacies.

The sale of foreign drugs are prohibited in South Carolina, said Jim Knight, spokesman for the state Labor, License and Regulation Department.

Jim Bracewell, executive vice president of the South Carolina Pharmacy Association, said his group supports access to foreign prescription drugs but wants reassurance the medicines are what the doctor ordered.

"There's a large amount of counterfeit drugs in the world market," he said.

Regulation of imported prescription drugs has been the biggest stumbling block in the federal government, Bracewell said.

The Food and Drug Administration opposes importation from Canada because it cannot guarantee the medicine's safety, officials have said.

DeMint disagrees, saying the drugs from other countries are often made in America.

"Probably the safest product to import is a prescription because they're all in tamperproof containers and the whole distribution chain is heavily regulated," he said.

DeMint said prescription drugs are the only product Americans are not allowed to purchase from anywhere else.

"The law that we support would support orders of prescriptions from certified vendors in other countries," DeMint said.

DeMint and officials in other states have been pushing the Bush administration to change its policy prohibiting Canadian drug imports in a bid to save money on drug costs.

The congressman said cheaper drugs are necessary now that the government has agreed to help pay for prescriptions in the Medicare reform bill, a measure DeMint voted against, saying it would bankrupt the system.

"We cannot ask taxpayers to pay a huge additional price for prescriptions to support cheaper prices in other countries," he said.

DeMint is counting on voter outrage to push the issue. "More and more Americans are figuring out they're paying a higher price to support Canadians and the French buying the same product at a cheaper price," he said.

DeMint's Democratic opponent, Inez Tenenbaum, agreed with the Republican on this issue.

"We definitely support reimportation of prescription drugs as a way to bring down the cost for South Carolina seniors," said Tenenbaum's spokeswoman Kay Packett. "It is outrageous that seniors in South Carolina have to pay more than seniors in Canada for the same drugs."