INDIANAPOLIS (WOWO): Two more bills seeking to halt meth production at the pharmacy counter have passed the House and Senate.
The House overwhelmingly approved a bill requiring a prescription for medication like Sudafed only as a last resort. You’d first be offered a tamper-proof version of pseudoephedrine, or a single box. And if you already have another prescription at that pharmacy, you’d face no additional limits.
Both parties gave an unprecedented standing ovation to Auburn Republican Ben Smaltz after the 92-7 vote for crafting a compromise that won’t inconvenience law-abiding Hoosiers.
Indiana leads the nation in meth labs, and Muncie Democrat Sue Errington notes her home county leads the state by a wide margin — yet constituents have still been stopping her in the grocery store to beg her not to force them to get a prescription. She says Smaltz’s bill strikes the right balance.
The bill is one of three attempts to crack down on pseudoephedrine still moving through the legislature. Senators approved a bill ordering pharmacists to question customers who want to buy Sudafed. And both the House and Senate have passed versions of a bill denying pseudoephedrine to convicted drug offenders.