July 1st marks the date that individuals will need a prescription for any medical product that contains pseudophedrine. Currenty sold as over the counter products cold medications containing pseudophedrine have been moved in many cases, to behind the pharmacy counter and require individuals to sign a log and show ID when making a purchase. The new bill will change that status for Mississippians.
With the signing of House Bill 512 Governor Haley Barbour made Mississippi the second state in the nation to move former over the counter medications to behind the counter pharmacy prescription handled products. Oregon passed a similar bill in 2006.
The move comes in reaction to the growing trend of using pseudophedrine in the manufacturing of the illegal drug methamphetamine. In a statement issued to the press, Governor Barbour was quick to take a stand “We are serious about reducing the use of methamphetamine in our state,” Governor Barbour said. “This law is another tool for law enforcement to fight illegal drugs and protect our communities. Meth use is a problem all over the nation, and I’m proud Mississippi can lead the way in battling this drug that damages lives.”
Mississippi’s battle against the illegal drug meth resulted in 590 meth labs seized in 2009. The new bill will help to make at least one of the substances necessary for the manufacturing of meth difficult to obtain.
This will place a bit of a hard ship on individuals who need the cold medications. The cost to individuals means an increase in doctor visits and a cost to insurance premiums for such doctor visits. For this reason, other states have been slower to pass such strong restriction on pseudophedrine. States considering ways to deal with the production of meth and placing restrictions on pseudophedrine are:
California. The state senate has passed a bill requiring the use of prescription.
Kentucky. In January the Narcotics Officers Association requested a prescription law.
Missouri. Several cities in the state have passed prescription ordinances.
Oklahoma. Rather than a prescription plan, Oklahoma is hoping to curb illegal use by increasing electronic tracking of the product.
Mississippi’s new law should curb the incidence of arrest from illegal meth labs and hopefully stop individuals from getting the product. Meth labs dropped to 10 labs for Oregon one year after their prescription law went into effect. Many Mississippians hope that Mississippi does as well or better with the new law in place.
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I submit that the vast majority of drug users would use only marijuana if it were available at an affordable price. But it is not available at
an affordable price. During the early 1970s marijuana sold for $10 to $20 an ounce here in the United States. Now it sells for about $300 an
ounce.
Today’s price of marijuana is the result of the “prohibition tax” which goes to organized criminals — the government gets nothing.
If a beer drinker cannot get any beer, they switch to another type of alcoholic beverage. If a marijuana user cannot obtain marijuana at an
affordable price, many switch to other drugs like meth. And because marijuana is illegal, it is sold only by criminals, criminals who often sell other drugs like meth.
And their marijuana suppliers often give out free samples of other drugs like meth, creating the so-called “gateway effect.”
If marijuana were legally available in licensed business establishments, our meth problem would be a
a fraction of what it is
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