Law-abiding citizens, those among us who sometimes suffer colds and must go to a pharmacy in search of relief on, say, a Sunday evening, could be penalized should Indiana law change in the upcoming legislative session.
The heart of the issue is that in Indiana, Hoosiers can purchase limited quantities of decongestants for treating the common cold — any drug that contains pseudoephedrine. That same drug can be — and is — abused in the manufacture of methamphetamine in homemade laboratories.
As we said, Indiana does place restrictions on how much of the drug Hoosiers can purchase, but they may get around the law by having multiple friends and relatives purchase the drug in legal quantities.
Lawmakers are considering two possibilities for changing the law. GOP House Speaker Brian Bosma (Indianapolis) would require a prescription for such medicines. This measure is backed as well by Indiana prosecutors. They want to slam the door shut on individuals who purchase the drug for the express purpose of manufacturing meth.
However, this would mean those unfortunate individuals who catch a miserable cold late at night, but do not have drugs such as Sudafed at home, are in a mess. They would need a prescription. Good luck.
But now, two Indiana state senators — Republican Randy Head (Logansport) and Jim Merritt (Indianapolis) — want to change state law so that individuals can still purchase drugs without a prescription. An Associated Press report said that pharmacists would have the authority to approve or disapprove sales of medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Their bill would require pharmacists to "make a professional determination" that there is a legitimate medical and pharmaceutical need for the cold medicine before allowing the sales. They said a similar law in Arkansas has proven effective.
The legislation proposed by the two state senators may be best, as long as pharmacists are available.
The proposal by Bosma would limit access to medication, requiring ill resident to make appointments with physicians, instead of just going to a pharmacy.
Existing law may be best if it were not for the way some drug abusers succeed in taking advantage of the availability of drugs.
Clearly, there are no easy answers.