Meth legislation stalls in Indiana General Assembly so far in 2015

At least five measures to require prescriptions for medicine containing pseudoephedrine, like Sudafed, aren’t moving forward as a deadline for them to receive a committee hearing nears.

Lawmakers appear caught up in the debate of consumer rights vs. combating the issue of methamphetamine in Indiana. One final proposal that stands a chance is assigned to a committee state Rep. Thomas Washburne chairs, but as of Friday, the Evansville Republican confirmed he doesn’t yet have the votes to move the bill. Supporters of requiring prescriptions point to the states of Oregon and Mississippi that saw the number of meth lab incidents decline after the restrictions were imposed.

Some of the proposals placed an all-out prescription requirement for pseudoephedrine-containing drugs. But the bill assigned to Washburne’s committee, authored by state Rep. Ben Smaltz, an Auburn Republican, would allow Hoosiers to buy a set amount of the drug before a prescription was required. Washburne called the legislation a “fairly reasonable compromise.”

Washburne said he’s heard a number of concerns on requiring prescriptions, including people wondering of the effectiveness of such a restriction if adjoining states don’t have similar laws. He’s also heard concerns from the medical field who don’t want to become gatekeepers of the drug because their offices are busy as is.

On the horizon are pseudoephedrine products that can’t be cooked down, he said.

“What do you do in the meantime, meth is real. It is a real problem and trying to find a solution is very difficult for something so common,” Washburne said. “If there were a national law on it, it might be most effective, but when a state is trying to do it, my district borders Illinois for a long stretch. Nothing keeps someone from driving across the river.”

An alternative to prescriptions

One proposal that could gain traction deals with stopping people with methamphetamine related convictions from purchasing pseudoephedrine through a tracking system Indiana already uses for the cold medicine.

State Sen. Carlin Yoder, a Middlebury Republican, said the legislation forms a meth registry to start tracking individuals who are repeat offenders. The proposal requires courts to report meth-related convictions to the state police, and then ultimately the state’s National Precursor Log Exchange.

“I feel like this is the next natural step because so many of these guys continue to do this stuff, so for the first time, if this bill passes, will shut them down. Once they are in the system, they will no longer have access to the product,” Yoder said.

Yoder argued the legislation is a better approach because it doesn’t infringe on the rights of innocent people.

“When you go the prescription route you are shutting down the product for 99 percent of people who need it for good purposes,” Yoder said.

State Rep. Ed Clere, who chairs the House Public Health Committee, said he declined to hear bills requiring prescriptions because he doesn’t believe it’s the best route to combat Indiana’s meth problem. Indiana has an “overburdened” primary care system, said Clere, a New Albany Republican.

“I appreciate the concerns about methamphetamine, but I haven’t been able to reconcile the proposals to require prescription for pseudoephedrine with the shortage of health care providers and the lack of access to care,” Clere said.

Local lawmaker still optimistic

State Rep. Wendy McNamara, a Mount Vernon Republican, said she remains hopeful that a bill requiring a form of prescription for pseudoephedrine will be heard. McNamara crafted a proposal, which was sent to Clere’s committee, to require a prescription after a person purchased the equivalent of a two-month supply of the drug.

“I do think we are getting the message out across the state. More and more people are coming up to me, legislators and community members, that recognize that there is a problem and recognize it’s more than just taking away their pseudoephedrine,” McNamara said. “They are recognizing the economic, social and health costs associated with it and the devastating effects meth can have on a community.”

Data provided by the Indiana State Police show lab incidents in Oregon and Mississippi declining after their prescription-only laws took effect. Lab incidents fell from 68 to 20 in Oregon, and from 698 to 309 in Mississippi, during the time immediately before and after those states’ laws took effect, according to state police data.

A federal report published in 2013 concluded, “The implementation of prescription-only laws by Oregon and Mississippi was followed by declines in lab incidents. Law enforcement officials in Oregon and Mississippi attribute this reduction in large part to the prescription-only approach. Prescription-only status appears to have reduced overall demand for (pseudoephedrine) products, but overall welfare impacts on consumers are unclear because of the lack of data, such as the cost of obtaining prescriptions.”

Under Smaltz’s bill, a person could buy the equivalent of up to 16 boxes with 60 milligram tablets and up to four boxes of 240 milligram tablets before a prescription was required. His proposal also seeks to crack down on smurfers, who purchase cold tablets on behalf of a meth cook, by placing serial numbers on the boxes and tablets.

“So if we catch a cook with 20 boxes, we are going to be able to track it backward,” Smaltz said. “Right now we can’t and it puts doubt in a smurfer’s mind.”

The bill also increases penalties for possessing meth and meth paraphernalia and also manufacturing the drug in the presence of a child.

On his bill being heard, Smaltz said, “I’m working on that every day.”