By Rob Moritz
Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK — Cold medications and other drugs containing pseudoephedrine would be available by prescription only under a bill filed today by a Forrest City state lawmaker.
Rep. Marshall Wright
Pseudoephedrine is the key ingredient in the manufacture of methamphetamine, and illegal drug that is rampant in the state and around the country.
“We’ve got a growing epidemic in Arkansas that we can’t ignore anymore,” said Rep. Marshall Wright, D-Forrest City. Meth is killing us as a state. It has wide-reaching detrimental effects on children, families and law enforcement.”
Under House Bill 1444, medications containing ephedrine, pseudoephedrine and phenylpropanolamine would only be available with a doctor’s prescription.
To address the meth problem, the Legislature in 2005 passed a law requiring pharmacies to keep products containing pseudoephedrine behind the counter and record who purchases the products.
“That was a good law at the time,” Wright said. “It was a great step and a great idea, but we’re not seeing any relief.”
Not only is meth dangerous to use, it is made with a variety of caustic and flammable chemicals that sometimes can lead to explosions and to illness just from being exposed to the chemicals, he said.
“Right now there is a system in place that tracks it, but I don’t want to track these people. I want to put these people out of business,” Wright said. “This (proposal) is about as close to a silver bullet to address that.”
Wright said Mississippi recently passed a law requiring a prescription to purchase drugs containing pseudoephedrine, but he said the number of meth labs hasn’t declined in that state because people are traveling to other states, including Arkansas, to buy the ingredients.
Sen. Percy Malone, D-Arkadelphia, who owns a pharmacy and was instrumental in getting the 2005 law passed, said he would oppose Wright’s bill because it would make it difficult for people suffering from colds to get the only drug that actually works to relieve their symptoms.
“I don’t want to make it to where you have to go pay a doctor $50 or $60 so you can buy some cold tablets,” Malone said.
He said he planned to file legislation next week that would strengthen the existing law concerning pseudoephedrine.
“We know we have a problem, and will forever, with people getting drugs and abusing them, whether it’s hydrocodone … and putting it on prescription isn’t going to solve the deal,” Malone said.
He said his bill would change the current law, which requires the person purchasing the cold medicines to show either an Arkansas driver’s license or a photo ID, to require either a state driver’s license or a state photo ID. The change would make it virtually impossible from people from out of state to come to Arkansas to buy pseudoephedrine to fuel meth labs, the senator said.
“They won’t have an Arkansas driver’s license or ID so they won’t be able to come across the state line and buy it, and that’s what’s happening now,” Malone said.
Also, Malone said his bill would amend the current law to require a pharmacist to sell the medications. Currently, pharmacy technicians are able to sell the items.
He said the mechanism for reporting the purchases would be improved to make transmitting information to law enforcement agencies quicker.
“I believe that we can tighten this to the nth degree and we’ll try that for a couple of years,” Malone said. “If it doesn’t, then a future Legislature can take the step to put it on prescription.”
