A bill that would've required people convicted of drug-related felonies to have a prescription to purchase a vital ingredient used in the manufacturing of methamphetamine won't clear the Indiana Legislature.
The proposal (Senate Bill 536), the last remaining bill of eight dealing directly with meth, won't be heard in the House Courts and Criminal Code committee.
Southwestern Indiana Rep. Tom Washburne, R-Evansville, who co-sponsored the bill and is the chairman of that committee, said after vetting, the proposal didn't pass muster.
"We talked to a number of prosecutors and law enforcement, and the consensus was by far they didn't think the register would accomplish much," Washburne said.
The proposal was the compromise to other bills that called for requiring prescriptions for the cold and allergy medicine pseudoephedrine for all consumers.
The bill called for state courts to report drug-related felonies to the Indiana State Police, which would then report the offense to the state's pseudoephedrine purchase database.
The price tag was too high, Washburne said.
It would cost the state's police agency $378,500 in 2016 to update the database to old convictions and would cost $54,200 in 2017, according to a fiscal impact statement filed with the bill.
No methamphetamine-related legislation reaching the governor's desk signals the changing face of meth in Indiana.
A Courier & Press in-depth report in February found that imported crystal meth seized by local law enforcement increased 58,500 percent increase between 2011 and 2014. More than 60 pounds of imported meth was seized locally last year. That increase correlates with a 50-percent decrease in the number of meth labs seized in the county between 2013 and 2014, showing that local meth habits are changing for now.
"People are desperate to find a solution, but I think they want to find a solution that's going to be effective," Washburne said. "And one that doesn't infringe on the liberties of people not involved in meth."
Requiring a prescription for pseudoephedrine, such as they do in Oregon, Mississippi or many cities in Missouri, could help, Washburne said.
But with the proliferation of importation over the homegrown product and the ability to cross state lines to purchase without a prescription, Washburne questioned whether it would be effective.
Not all problems have legislative solutions, he said.
"Education, that's the one thing we can keep doing. Telling people, ‘This is no normal illegal drug,'" he said.