Kansas Legislature Defeats Prescription Cold Medicine Bill

The Kansas Legislature killed a bill in committee that would have required a prescription for the decongestant pseudoephedrine. Missouri is currently is considering a similar law. The chemical, which is the active ingredient in medications like Sudafed and Actifed, is used in the illegal manufacture of Methamphetamine. Some lawmakers would like to limit the availability of the drug to help in their fight against Meth, but others say making the medication prescription would put a burden on all people by making a costly and inconvenient trip to the doctor a prerequisite for using a safe and effective treatment for the common cold.

Currently, anyone purchasing medications containing pseudoephedrine have to provide an ID and purchases are logged in a database with info kept for two years. The system is real time and is designed to keep a "smurfer" as they are called from going from pharmacy to pharmacy buying small amounts of the substance.

The two states (Oregon and Mississippi) that currently have prescription pseudoephedrine laws on the books have reported a substantial decrease in Meth production. Laws like this can work, but we have to decide as a society if we are going to give up our rights to help fight the insidious Meth epidemic around the nation. I, personally am not in favor of these kinds of laws. I always stand on the side of more liberty, not less - but I do understand the other side. Meth is a horrible, horrible drug that truly destroys lives.

Missouri Wants Presciption for Some Cold Medicines

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon and Attorney General Chris Koster want new laws regulating the sale of Over the Counter Cold Medications that contain Psuedoephedrine. The chemical is the single most important substance in the manufacturing of Methamphetamine. Current Federal law requires all medications containing psuedoephedrine be kept behind the Pharmacy counter and a photo ID required for sale. Since these measures have been enacted, the Missouri meth lab count has fallen form a 2003 high of near 3,000, to around 1700. Last September, the State launched a new electronic system to help pharmacies trace those who buy more than the legal limit of the medications - that is not enough, says Nixon.

Well, with government it is never enough. No amount of government intrusion is ever enough. Don't get me wrong, I think keeping the medications behind the counter is a prudent and relatively convenient solution to a problem that does need addressing. Meth is nasty stuff, I've seen what it does to people first hand. Requiring a prescription to obtain cold medications is NOT the answer. As with so many government "solutions", it creates a larger problem that it tries to solve. Going to the doctor is not cheap, and it is prohibitively expensive for some folks. These medications provide cheap, effective relief for cold and allergy sufferers, and many simply would not go to a doctor to get a prescription. Give the new tracking system time to work. With health care costs the way they are now, in "crisis" as Obama likes to say, lets not find ways to drive up costs.