Proposal would classify many cold medicines as prescription drugs
TJ FOWLER
March 21 2014
SPRINGFIELD – Some nasal decongestants and other common medicines could soon require a prescription, as lawmakers look for a solution to the state’s methamphetamine problem.
A Senate panel heard testimony Thursday about a proposal to classify drugs containing ephedrine and pseudoephedrine as Schedule III controlled substances.
“The key to meth is in pseudoephedrine,” said Pekin Police Chief Greg Nelson. “Law enforcement knows that, the industry knows that and the government knows that.”
In recent years, lawmakers have made efforts to restrict the purchase of drugs containing pseudoephedrine by limiting the amount that can be purchased per month, and requiring that consumers provide identification and sign a registry at their pharmacy.
“There have been several efforts made legislatively that have helped,” Nelson said. “But the meth users and the meth cooks are adapting and changing, and we need to adapt and change also.”
But some argue that requiring a prescription for decongestants would place too heavy a burden on consumers.
“If you target criminals, we’re fully supportive of that,” said Carlos Gutierrez, a drug lobbyist for the Consumer Healthcare Products Association. “We just have a problem with the broad stroke of implicating law-abiding citizens in this manner.”
Gutierrez said the move would be unpopular, and that some consumers can’t afford to see a doctor just to get cold medicine.
“Prescriptions just make it very expensive at a time when our country’s trying to get a handle on health care and make it more affordable,” he said. “This would make it less affordable.”
State Sen. Dave Koehler, D-Peoria, who sponsored the proposal, said he recognizes the controversy, but still thinks the change would help police.
“It is solely to try to give law enforcement a better handle on dealing with methamphetamine problems that especially downstate has been hit with,” he said.
State Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon, argued that the measure could have some unintended consequences. He used the example of a family suffering from bad allergies carrying cold medicine across state lines.
“They go over to Indiana and they buy Sudafed,” Righter said. “When they cross the Illinois line, are they felons under this legislation?”
Nelson and Koehler didn’t have an answer.
The FDA required a prescription for pseudoephedrine purchases until 1976, but Oregon and Mississippi have recently brought the requirement back in order to curb meth manufacturing.
The legislation is Senate Bill 3502.
http://herald-review.com/business/l...cle_e94322a1-9451-529b-95a3-22fd8ba71717.html
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I dont think this will do much of anything.. given this is illinois I would think that a large portion of the meth comes in from mexico along with all the coke and H thats in chi town and other parts of the state.. just a guess there though. Many of the indian and middle eastern gas station owners around me are openly ignoring the current rules despite the possibility of a large fine?
TJ FOWLER
March 21 2014
SPRINGFIELD – Some nasal decongestants and other common medicines could soon require a prescription, as lawmakers look for a solution to the state’s methamphetamine problem.
A Senate panel heard testimony Thursday about a proposal to classify drugs containing ephedrine and pseudoephedrine as Schedule III controlled substances.
“The key to meth is in pseudoephedrine,” said Pekin Police Chief Greg Nelson. “Law enforcement knows that, the industry knows that and the government knows that.”
In recent years, lawmakers have made efforts to restrict the purchase of drugs containing pseudoephedrine by limiting the amount that can be purchased per month, and requiring that consumers provide identification and sign a registry at their pharmacy.
“There have been several efforts made legislatively that have helped,” Nelson said. “But the meth users and the meth cooks are adapting and changing, and we need to adapt and change also.”
But some argue that requiring a prescription for decongestants would place too heavy a burden on consumers.
“If you target criminals, we’re fully supportive of that,” said Carlos Gutierrez, a drug lobbyist for the Consumer Healthcare Products Association. “We just have a problem with the broad stroke of implicating law-abiding citizens in this manner.”
Gutierrez said the move would be unpopular, and that some consumers can’t afford to see a doctor just to get cold medicine.
“Prescriptions just make it very expensive at a time when our country’s trying to get a handle on health care and make it more affordable,” he said. “This would make it less affordable.”
State Sen. Dave Koehler, D-Peoria, who sponsored the proposal, said he recognizes the controversy, but still thinks the change would help police.
“It is solely to try to give law enforcement a better handle on dealing with methamphetamine problems that especially downstate has been hit with,” he said.
State Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon, argued that the measure could have some unintended consequences. He used the example of a family suffering from bad allergies carrying cold medicine across state lines.
“They go over to Indiana and they buy Sudafed,” Righter said. “When they cross the Illinois line, are they felons under this legislation?”
Nelson and Koehler didn’t have an answer.
The FDA required a prescription for pseudoephedrine purchases until 1976, but Oregon and Mississippi have recently brought the requirement back in order to curb meth manufacturing.
The legislation is Senate Bill 3502.
http://herald-review.com/business/l...cle_e94322a1-9451-529b-95a3-22fd8ba71717.html
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I dont think this will do much of anything.. given this is illinois I would think that a large portion of the meth comes in from mexico along with all the coke and H thats in chi town and other parts of the state.. just a guess there though. Many of the indian and middle eastern gas station owners around me are openly ignoring the current rules despite the possibility of a large fine?
