"The Tan Sheet" has been on top of tracking efforts to restrict sales of pseudoephedrine since states first began to develop legislation to keep the cough/cold ingredient from being diverted to the production of methamphetamine. Now Oregon Senator Ron Wyden wants to take his state's approach (making PSE prescription-only) national. Read our story, below. To stay current on this and other issues that affect over-the-counter drugs and dietary supplements, subscribe to "The Tan Sheet" or get a free trial here.
Wyden To Propose Prescription-Only Status For Pseudoephedrine
Legislation drafted by Sen. Ron Wyden would require prescriptions for all products containing the methamphetamine precursor pseudoephedrine.
A draft of the Oregon Democrat's bill, the Meth Lab Elimination Act of 2009, was provided by Rob Bovett, a district attorney in Lincoln County, Ore., and legal counsel for the Oregon Narcotics Enforcement Association.
Bovett said in an e-mail that Wyden will introduce the bill "shortly."
Wyden's office did not respond to requests for comment.
While several states have introduced bills to change how meth precursors are dispensed, only Oregon has a prescription-only law in effect.
The federal Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act, enacted in 2006 as part of the Patriot Act reauthorization, put nonprescription PSE products behind the counter and set limits on retail purchases.
Wyden's draft claims provisions of the Combat Meth Act helped cut the number of meth labs discovered in Oregon from 473 in 2003 to 192 in 2005.
After the state began requiring prescriptions for all PSE drugs, only 18 labs were found in 2007, according to the draft.
Bovett, a key player in enacting Oregon's Rx PSE law, said "we virtually eliminated meth labs from Oregon by moving PSE" to prescription-only status - a measure of success Wyden's bill says could be repeated nationwide.
The Meth Lab Elimination Act would direct FDA to "promulgate rules requiring a prescription to dispense pseudoephedrine and pseudoephedrine products" within 180 days of enactment.
Wyden's bill would not be the first attempt to reclassify PSE products on a national scale. In 2002, Rep. Marion Berry, D-Ark., offered the Methamphetamine Elimination Act to require a prescription for PSE purchases. The bill did not move out of committee.
A spokeswoman for Berry said "we are weighing our options" with regard to reintroducing a PSE bill.
Other congressional sources declined to comment on whether a House version of Wyden's draft is in the works.
Altered States
The Consumer Healthcare Products Association and the National Association of Chain Drug Stores have both stated opposition to legislation that would eliminate consumers' nonprescription access to PSE-containing products, such as McNeil Consumer Healthcare's Sudafed nasal decongestant and Tylenol Cold Severe Congestion.
Current federal and state laws "are designed to maintain a balance between keeping valuable products available to consumers and combating dangerous, illegal practices," an NACDS spokesman said in an e-mail.
Legislation such as Wyden's "would upset this balance," the spokesman added.
CHPA points out that states would lose sales tax revenues should PSE drugs become tax-exempt prescription-only products.
Several states currently are considering prescription-only legislation for all PSE drugs.
A bill in the Missouri state Senate would make meth precursors Rx-only and essentially render a planned electronic tracking system obsolete before it goes online. The state is in the process of developing a statewide electronic logbook to prevent "smurfing," - the act of buying meth precursor products at several retail locations to avoid detection.
Jason Grellner, president of the Missouri Narcotic Officers' Association, said e-tracking systems "are not a threat" to meth makers.
Grellner said such systems actually encourage illicit purchases by driving up black market prices for meth precursors. Additionally, meth operators recruit more people to buy PSE drugs to thwart the single-purchaser limits.
At a Missouri state Senate committee hearing Feb. 16, CHPA State Government Relations Director Mandy Hagan touted the effectiveness of CMEA provisions, which led to a 65 percent drop nationwide in meth labs, and of electronic tracking systems for precursor sales.
Real-time logbooks flag potential smurfers, but the implementation of electronic tracking has been fragmented among drugstore chains and states with their own internal systems.
Hagan's testimony points to Oklahoma's "stop-sale" system as helpeing reduce the number of meth labs discovered in the state by 90 percent.
In an interview, Grellner asserted that Oklahoma's meth labs largely disappeared before the state began electronic tracking of meth precursors in 2006.
An October 2006 press release from the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control says "even prior to this new system," the number of meth labs in operation has "declined by more than 90 percent since 2004."
A CHPA spokeswoman said in an e-mail that the trade group attributes Oklahoma's 90 percent drop "to PSE sales restrictions and e-logbooks overall."
She added that federal Drug Enforcement Administration data show Oklahoma's neighboring states have not experienced the same level of meth lab reductions.
Other states with PSE bills similar to Missouri's seem less serious about moving the substance to prescription-only. The sponsor of a bill introduced in January in the Georgia state Senate says the bill is on hold.
In Washington, state Rep. Jim Moeller, a co-sponsor of a bill to make several meth precursors prescription-only, said he supported the bill solely as a favor to a colleague. In an e-mail, Moeller said he "knew it would not move."
- Dan Schiff (d.schiff@elsevier.com)
