Government Begins Restricting Purchase Of OTC Cold Medication To Fight Meth Labs

Oregon is leading the way in restricting sales of over-the-counter (OTC) cold remedies such as Sudafed and Nyquil because an ingredient used in those drugs can be used to manufacture the illegal drug meth.

Illegal drug labs extract pseudoephedrine from those medications and use it in the preparation of meth, the use of which has grown to epidemic proportions among the nation’s youth and is now consistently ranked as the #2 drug used by teenagers.

Oregon is not alone. Oklahoma has also joined the bandwagon and Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell announced today that he will seek restrictions on consumers’ ability to buy these previously unrestricted drugs. Rendell is proposing legislation that will require pharmacies to keep any medicine containing pseudoephedrine behind the counter and will require purchasers to show identification, sign a purchase log and limit their purchases to no more than 7.5 grams of pseudoephedrine per month (2.5 packs of cold medicine per month).

At the national level, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Gordon Smith (R-OR) co-sponsored The Combat Meth Act and attached it to FY2006 Commerce, Justice Science Appropriations legislation. That bill is moving to conference committee and is expected to be amended before facing further votes.

“It’s unfortunate that these very innocuous and consumer-friendly drugs have had to suffer as a result of criminal activity,” said Consumer Help Web President Joan Bounacos. “We support government crackdowns on illegal drugs, of course, but question whether the baby is being thrown out with the bathwater here. Not only could this bill harm consumers by making it more difficult to obtain legal medication, but shareholders and consumers who have invested in these companies may also suffer losses. It is unfortunate that the state legislatures and United States Senate can’t find a way to address this problem without onerous legislation.”

posted by Consumer Help Web Editorial Team at 7:11 PM |