Laws fighting meth are working
4.4.2017 – IndyStar
As president of the Indiana Retail Council, I am always mindful of Indiana rules and regulations that impact consumers and retailers. With the end of the legislative session approaching, we continue to focus on getting back to business without overly burdening every-day Hoosier consumers.
Each year, we are confronted with particularly hot-button issues that bring out a lot of passion on both sides. This was evident last year with the numerous anti-meth proposals that were considered over the course of the session. Everyone wanted to combat the meth scourge, but the “how” was greatly up for debate.
Most proposals wanted to fight meth production by restricting access to over-the-counter cold and allergy medicine containing pseudoephedrine, like Sudafed-D and Advil Cold and Sinus. That is because a few meth cooks illegally use PSE in the course of meth production. The proposals put forth ranged from requiring a prescription for medicines containing PSE to the proposal championed by Sen. Mike Young and Rep. Dave Frizzell, banning individuals previously convicted of a meth-related crime from purchasing PSE. Additional legislative fixes focused on requiring a previous relationship with a pharmacist to purchase PSE without a prescription.
Eventually, a combination of these proposals – the meth offender block list – and the additional retail restrictions, which require a prior relationship with a pharmacist, were passed by the legislature and signed by the governor. This combination of laws was intended to target criminals, not law-abiding consumers.
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