01-13-2011, 08:11 PM
FRANKFORT - A state legislative panel on Thursday took up the issue of whether to require prescriptions to further regulate a key - and legal - ingredient in methamphetamine.
Meth is illegal, but it is manufactured using a variety of legal, easily accessible ingredients including pseudoephedrine, the active ingredient in many common over-the-counter cold medicines.
Federal and state laws already restrict how much pseudoephedrine an individual can purchase, and require them to show identification and sign a log before buying it.
But some lawmakers and law enforcement officials want to require a prescription from a doctor in order to obtain it.
They say existing laws and tracking systems are inadequate, and that requiring a prescription for pseudoephedrine could reduce meth usage and manufacturing.
But opponents question the benefits of more regulation, and say it would inconvenience those who buy pseudoephedrine legally to treat colds and sinus problems.
Committee member Sen. John Schickel, R-Union, said he's undecided on the issue.
"It's a serious problem all across the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and everyone is very concerned about it," said Schickel, a former U.S. Marshal and Boone County jailer.
"What I'm also concerned about is, many, many Kentuckians use these products legally. I'm using it today for my cold," he said, "and so we want to make sure that consumers are protected, if they use the products legally, and their interests are taken into consideration."
Between June 2008 and May 2010, 2.5 million boxes of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine products were sold in Kentucky, according to a report by committee staff.
It's unknown how much of that was used to make meth.
But law enforcement officials can track people who try to buy more than the legal limit and those who buy the products a suspicious number of times through NPLEx, a multi-state electronic log of pseudoephedrine buyers.
Opponents of the pseudoephedrine prescriptions say the existing laws and tracking methods are working.
But prescription supporters say they've simply created a new breed of buyers called "smurfers," individuals paid by meth cookers to legally buy the ingredient for them.
http://nky.cincinnati.com/article/AB/201...ill-rules-
Meth is illegal, but it is manufactured using a variety of legal, easily accessible ingredients including pseudoephedrine, the active ingredient in many common over-the-counter cold medicines.
Federal and state laws already restrict how much pseudoephedrine an individual can purchase, and require them to show identification and sign a log before buying it.
But some lawmakers and law enforcement officials want to require a prescription from a doctor in order to obtain it.
They say existing laws and tracking systems are inadequate, and that requiring a prescription for pseudoephedrine could reduce meth usage and manufacturing.
But opponents question the benefits of more regulation, and say it would inconvenience those who buy pseudoephedrine legally to treat colds and sinus problems.
Committee member Sen. John Schickel, R-Union, said he's undecided on the issue.
"It's a serious problem all across the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and everyone is very concerned about it," said Schickel, a former U.S. Marshal and Boone County jailer.
"What I'm also concerned about is, many, many Kentuckians use these products legally. I'm using it today for my cold," he said, "and so we want to make sure that consumers are protected, if they use the products legally, and their interests are taken into consideration."
Between June 2008 and May 2010, 2.5 million boxes of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine products were sold in Kentucky, according to a report by committee staff.
It's unknown how much of that was used to make meth.
But law enforcement officials can track people who try to buy more than the legal limit and those who buy the products a suspicious number of times through NPLEx, a multi-state electronic log of pseudoephedrine buyers.
Opponents of the pseudoephedrine prescriptions say the existing laws and tracking methods are working.
But prescription supporters say they've simply created a new breed of buyers called "smurfers," individuals paid by meth cookers to legally buy the ingredient for them.
http://nky.cincinnati.com/article/AB/201...ill-rules-