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Letter to the editor: Oklahoma got it right with anti-meth law

5.9.15 – Jared Barton, Tulsa World  

Successful laws solve problems without putting undue burdens on the majority of the population. While sometimes it can be hard to find legislation that fits that description, it does exist. Take, for instance, Oklahoma’s 2012 anti-meth laws.

While some states have limited the access for all citizens who want to purchase the cold and allergy medicine (and an ingredient misused by a small number of criminals to make meth) pseudoephedrine, Oklahoma lawmakers instead restricted access to people previously convicted of a meth crime. This has led to a dramatic 79 percent reduction in meth lab seizures in the state.

While some might consider access to the pseudoephedrine trivial, in addition to the great burden an all-encompassing prescription requirement would have put on hard-working families, Oklahoma is a particularly bad state for allergies. According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, two cities in Oklahoma — Oklahoma City and Tulsa — rank among the 12 worst places in the country to live with spring allergies.

Our legislators did a great job fighting back against the meth epidemic, while also making sure cold and allergy sufferers had access to their necessary medicine.

Read more here.