WASHINGTON – The Senate opened the way Tuesday to let Americans import prescription drugs into the United States from Canada, seeking to ease a regulatory ban on cheaper medicine crossing the border.

The proposal, which was approved 68-32, would create a Canadian loophole on a Food and Drug Administration ban on importing prescription medicine into the United States. It was offered as part of a $31.7 billion Homeland Security Department spending blueprint for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.

The department’s Customs and Border Protection bureau began aggressively seizing Tamiflu, Viagra and other incoming prescription medications at borders in November. Prescription drugs – even those manufactured in the United States – are generally sold at cheaper prices in Canada.

“We should demand that [Customs and Border Protection] focus on the true priority that we face on the war on terror,” said Sen. David Vitter, R-La., of efforts to secure U.S. borders. “Stripping small amounts of prescription drugs from the hands of seniors …. that should not be a priority.”

Vitter’s plan, which was embraced by Democrats, specifically would prohibit Customs and Border Protection from stopping people with doctors’ prescriptions for FDA-approved drugs from bringing the medicine into this country from Canada.

Republican Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine voted for Vitter’s amendment.

“With two-thirds of the Senate supporting this amendment today, it is clear that the will is there to pass drug importation legislation to reduce the burden of skyrocketing drug costs on Americans across the country,” said Snowe.

“I believe that individuals who choose to turn to Canada in hopes of finding cheaper, FDA-approved medicine should be able to do so without worrying that those drugs will be seized by U.S. customs and border agents,” said Collins.

But Republican leaders vociferously opposed the plan for fear, they said, the drugs could be unsafe for consumers – or even present a terror risk.

Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., said the proposal was an attempt to push the FDA into reversing itself while “creating a massive hole on our capacity to secure our borders and protect ourselves.”

“If I were a creative terrorist, I would say to myself, ‘Hey, listen, all I’ve got to do is produce a can here that says ‘Lipitor’ on it, make it look like the original Lipitor bottle, which isn’t too hard to do, fill it with anthrax,” Gregg said.

Lipitor is a cholesterol-lowering drug.

Aides warned that the drug import plan was likely to be stripped out of the legislation – as it has been in past years – whenever it got to a conference of House and Senate lawmakers who will negotiate the final version. The administration also has opposed efforts to loosen the restrictions.