KEY VOTES: HB 15, SB 45 - Banning Decongestants
If you've ever had a stuffy head, you know that the only real decongestants contain pseudoephedrine. Unfortunately, the pseudoephedrine contained in these products is also a key ingredient in the illegal production of methamphetamines. That is why, a few years ago, the General Assembly acted to put pseudoephedrine products behind the pharmacist's counter and track purchases by requiring a photo-ID and signature to purchase them.
Apparently, it is not enough for anti-drug advocates and law enforcement to know exactly who purchased what and when. One of the biggest pushes currently in the General Assembly would make pseudoephedrine products a controlled substance and require a doctor's prescription. HB 15 and SB 45 would do just that.
Besides the inconvenience, here's a short list of reasons this is wrong:
- It will drive up health care costs as now doctors, nurses and pharmacists are all required to participate in the process to obtain cold medicine.
- As more time is consumed in our health care system to address everyone's stuffy head, the cost of all health care will marginally increase.
- The limited supply of medicine will drive up its cost, making the remedy more expensive.
- Less information becomes available to law enforcement, as our current tracking system is rendered unavailable, while even more is required of our doctors to identify abuse. Not only are we taxing our doctors by requiring a silly prescription for a stuffy head, we would now be requiring them to act as law enforcement.
There is no question that Meth is bad. Not only as an addictive drug, but as an extreme hazard to the homes and environment where it is produced.
This effort is one step too far. Because all purchases are tracked, our actual law enforcement has all the information they need now. This legislation just shifts the burden of policing away from where it belongs (with the actual police) onto physicians and ERs.
Doctors are not successful law enforcement. As the Consumer Healthcare Products Association points out:
Mandy Hagan, director of state government relations for the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, says requiring a prescription may not alleviate Kentucky's meth problem. "Prescription drugs are abused at a higher rate than methamphetamine," Hagan said.
These bills are likely KEY VOTES on the KYCFG's 2011 Scorecard.
If you want to keep your access to cold medicine, ACT NOW and send your legislators a message by clicking here.
