Dozens of bills have been proposed by legislators during this year’s General Assembly to deal with methamphetamine and issues related to the drug. Some may see the light of day; most, however, will die.
Both the Indiana Senate and House of Representatives are dealing with the proposals in an effort to bring bills forward that will best curb the onslaught of the highly addictive and powerful stimulant made illegally in home laboratories.
Legislation won’t hurt efforts to combat the drug, but it certainly won’t stop drug abuse — a fact acknowledged by Sen. Brent Steele, R-Bedford. Steele is backing a proposal that will allow pharmacists to use professional judgment in stopping pseudoephedrine cold medicine sales if the pharmacist suspects the purchaser will use the product to make meth.
“People have got to understand we’re never going to solve this problem,” Steele said. “As soon as we crack down on meth, heroin pops up and crystal meth is shipped in from Mexico. My point in combating home-cooked meth is, if we can reduce the amount of labs, then we know it’s not being cooked in homes where little kids are subjected to its toxic fumes.
“We know they’re going to find a way. You can pass all the laws you want, but people will find a way to make this stuff. We’re just putting our fingers in a dike up here, and that’s all we can do. It’s a strong addiction, and these people are always going to stay a step ahead of you.”
Meth is one of the few drugs that can cause dependency after the first use, and not surprisingly, meth addicts will do anything to obtain their next high. Desperation goes beyond what most people can imagine, from labs set up to extract meth from urine to using acetone and lithium batteries to produce the drug.
It’s easy to make in home labs, but as law enforcement and legislation begins putting a dent on that production, users will turn to the meth shipped in to the United States from Mexico. It is estimated 80 percent of the meth in the U.S. comes from Mexico.
We realize lawmakers can’t legislate away drug abuse, but this new “pharmacist legitimization bill” is a promising first step.
It has already been proven to work in Fulton County, where all six pharmacies verify that requesting customers have a legitimate use for the cold medication. The idea is based on an Arkansas state law. According to an article published in The Indianapolis Star late last year, sales of pseudoephedrine dropped 50 percent in Fulton County once the policy was put into practice in June.
“I think this bill would be the best route,” said Rep. Steve Davisson, R-Salem, who has been a pharmacist since 1981. “It would satisfy the different groups of people without causing chaos. Arkansas did this in 2011, and meth labs decreased by 95 percent, so it has worked.”
We hope the proposal will continue to find support in the Statehouse.
As Steele said in a story published Sunday, “This isn’t going to be a cure-all, but it will help.”
How important is that help? Here’s a sobering fact: Meth users typically only live five to seven years after their addiction takes hold.
Any step toward taking down this drug is a good one.