Officer misses the mark on requiring prescription for pseudoephedrine
5.30.15 – Linda Ragsdale, St. Louis Post Dispatch
Recently, Franklin County Sheriff’s Lt. Jason Grellner was quoted in an article criticizing the National Precursor Log Exchange, the real-time stop-sale system that blocks the illegal purchase of medications containing pseudoephedrine used in Missouri and 29 others states. The vast majority of consumers purchasing medicines containing pseudoephedrine do so with the intent of treating cold and allergy symptoms. Lt. Grellner argues that law-abiding citizens should be forced to obtain a prescription for pseudoephedrine products due to a small group of criminals who purchase these products with the intent to make meth.
I have the utmost respect for Lt. Grellner and members of the law enforcement community who risk their lives every day, but I believe that he is off the mark on this issue.
Obviously, Missouri should be taking steps to fight the meth problem that our state has faced, but it should not be at the expense of our hard-working citizens. By requiring law-abiding citizens to get a prescription for medicines containing pseudoephedrine, our legislators would be forcing Missourians to miss work and pay additional fees for these safe and effective allergy and cold medications. According to a study by Missouri Wonk, a prescription requirement would lead to an additional $43 million in health care costs for our state per year.
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