Lawmakers are again expected
to look at a proposal that would require prescriptions
for medications containing pseudephedrine, a key meth ingredient, when the
2014 Regular Legislative Session begins in January.
Those opposed to the possibility
are bolstering their arguments, ahead of the session’s start, with a new
poll of West Virginians from Mark Blankenship
Enterprises.
That poll found 56 percent of West Virginia
About 65 percent of the
participants in the poll said it would be somewhat or very inconvenient to have
to get a doctor’s prescription to buy drugs like Claritin D, Advil Cold and
Sinus or other common cold and allergy medicines that are now available
over-the-counter.
Carlos Gutierrez, senior director
of government affairs for the Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA),
said the poll’s results echo what he’s seen nationwide.
“The vast majority of voters,
Americans, West Virginians , they oppose a
prescription requirement for an already FDA approved, very safe, very effective
medication that is currently affordable and accessible,” he said.
His organization represents
over-the-counter drug companies and has worked against legislation, here in West Virginia
“Folks are really getting a little
bit worn out on legislation that is crafted all on behalf of a small, criminal
minority and the vast majority of West Virginians
who buy pseudoephedrine, I’m convinced, are not criminals,” said Gutierrez.
Of those questioned in the poll, 80
percent said they would support legislation that would keep people convicted of
meth crimes from buying medications, containing pseudoephedrine, for ten years.
State law already limits
pseudoephedrine purchases in West
Virginia
Proposals requiring
prescriptions for drugs containing pseudoephedrine are expected to be
introduced when the 2014 Regular Legislative Session begins in January.
The prescription requirement is already in place in Oregon
and Mississippi
Supporters of it have said the
change would help reduce the number of meth labs in operation in West Virginia
