Methamphetamine:
In
Anti-Meth
Lab
Move,
Oregon
Becomes
First
State
to
Require
Prescription
for
Cold,
Allergy
Medications
8/19/05
Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski Tuesday signed into law a bill, HB 2485, that will make people seeking cold and allergy remedies containing pseudoephedrine go to a doctor's office and get a prescription before they can obtain what were formerly over-the-counter nonprescription medications. Some 40 states have either passed or are considering measures that restrict the sales of popular products like Sudafed and Claritin D, because pseudoephedrine is a key ingredient in some popular meth-cooking recipes, but Oregon now becomes the first state to require a prescription for their purchase. While that measure garnered the most attention, it was only one of a package of four bills aimed to ratchet up the "war on meth" -- all signed into law Tuesday by Gov. Kulongoski. SB 907 heightens penalties for methamphetamine-related offenses and defines meth-cooking as child abuse or neglect. SB 5630 allocates $1.5 million to pay for the increased imprisonment costs resulting from SB 907. And HB 5174 allocates $2.5 million more to pay for an expansion of drug courts. In an emergency move last year, Gov. Kulongoski ordered that cold and allergy remedies containing the precursor be moved behind the counter, a move that he credits with reducing the number of meth lab busts by half since then. This new law, part of his "Meth Initiative" package, will strike an even harder blow against home-cooking, he said. "Meth has robbed many Oregon children of the right to grow up in a happy and healthy home," said Gov. Kulongoski. "Limiting the availability of pseudoephedrine and providing long-term treatment will give hope for these kids to get their families back. We all have a role to play to fight the meth epidemic in our state. For some that means developing new ways to prevent meth use and for others that means finding an alternative cold remedy." Despite the complaints of cold and allergy sufferers, the pseudoephedrine bill sailed through the legislature. The bill's backers argued that other over-the-counter medicines would remain available and that the "meth crisis" and particularly the spread of home labs was so severe the pain was worth it. According to the latest federal data (from 2002), Oregon has treated more people for meth dependency than any other state in the union. In 2003, some 20,000 Oregonians received treatment for meth, Kulongoski said.
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