Meth crisis spurs radical measures

State Representative Debra Maggart (R-Hendersonville) has joined with Senator Mae Beavers (R-Mount Juliet) to sponsor a proposal that would create a Statewide electronic logbook for registering purchases of pseudoephedrine at Tennessee pharmacies. Currently, most drugstores use a manual paper signature log. The electronic log is meant to enhance already current Tennessee law requiring the logging of those who purchase pseudoephedrine products to make it easier to track those products and how much of them are purchased. The effort is a clear attempt to disrupt the sale of methamphetamine in Tennessee.

There is another proposal, however, to make all sales of pseudoephedrine products prescription purchases, something supported by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. The problem with this idea is that while the ingredients in these cold medications are indeed used in the production of meth, the medicines themselves are otherwise inexpensive cold and flu remedies. Prescription medicines are often far more expensive than their non-prescription counterparts, even if there is a non-prescription dose of the same product. At a time when the State is just as concerned as most of the citizenry about the rising cost of health care, could a move to make these medicines available by prescription alone further increase health care costs?