Battle looms over restriction on cold medicine used for meth

In a story Dec. 20 about proposed legislation that would require a prescription to buy certain types of cold medicine that can be used to make methamphetamine, The Associated Press reported erroneously that Ohio doesn't track the sale of such medicine. It does. The AP also erroneously reported that advertisements opposing the legislation have aired on television. They have not, but they have aired on radio.

A corrected version of the story is below:

Indiana lawmakers have yet to gather for the 2016 legislative session, but already the multibillion-dollar pharmaceutical industry has clashed with influential law enforcement organizations over a proposed law that would require a prescription to buy a common cold medicine also used to make methamphetamine.

Advocates, including county prosecutors, say something needs to be done to rollback Indiana's dubious distinction as a leading state in yearly meth lab discoveries, and have previously tried — and failed — to make it the third state requiring residents to get a doctor's prescription for cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine.

This year, they have a powerful advocate in GOP House Speaker Brian Bosma, who has made passing the law a priority.

Here are some things to keep in mind:

Top in meth labs

Meth lab discoveries have dropped across much of the U.S. since a national peak in 2004. That trend has mostly skipped Indiana. State police report 1,242 meth lab "incidents" as of Oct. 31 of this year, only slightly below the 1,384 labs that federal officials reported for Indiana at the national peak.

A 2013 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office credited crafty meth makers for developing new cooking techniques, as well as the use of groups of straw buyers who fan out to purchase the needed quantities of cold medicine.

But unlike the image of ad hoc meth lab facilities popularized by TV shows like "Breaking Bad," authorities say 93 percent of the labs discovered in 2015 were much smaller in scale, sometimes involving little more than a one-liter soda bottle

The law would certainly inconvenience consumers, said Jonathan Woodruff, an attorney for the National Alliance for Model State Drug Laws. But decreasing access to cold medicine, he said, can't hurt "because it makes it harder for people to buy it for illegal purposes."

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Made in Mexico

Opponents of the proposal say it is a dated solution to an evolving problem. Increasingly, authorities say, the meth trade is in the control of foreign drug cartels that can produce large quantities and have a vast distribution network.

"It's less of an issue of what's being purchased at the drugstore and more an issue of what is coming into the country," said Alex Brill, a health care policy researcher at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. "The marketplace here in the U.S. for meth has definitely evolved over the last four years."

Authorities concede that meth from Mexico is increasingly a problem, but they contend that tightly regulating the sale of cold medicine will free up the resources to focus on drug cartels.

"It won't solve the meth-taking problem in our state, but we believe it will solve the meth-making problem," said Washington County Prosecutor Dustin Houchin, who serves an area with substantial meth use.

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Advertising campaigns

The proposal is running into a well-financed campaign from industry groups, including the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, which represent interests that stand to lose financially if the law is passed. Already, radio ads are airing across the state highlighting the inconvenience it would cause for consumers, as well as the cost, which could fall on government programs like Medicare and Medicaid.

Former state health Commissioner Richard Feldman says the popularity of meth presents a vexing challenge for law enforcement.

"But flooding the medical system and clogging it up with patients with a common cold? The added cost to government individuals and families is not justified," said Feldman, who served under former Democratic Gov. Frank O'Bannon.

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Surrounding states

Critics and proponents both agree a prescription requirement will likely lead enterprising meth cooks to get their cold medicine in neighboring states, none of which have a prescription requirement for pseudoephedrine.

"But the harder it makes it for them, the better," said David Powell, executive director of the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council.

That could lead to the creation of a black market, said Feldman, who is currently the director of Family Medicine Residency for St. Francis Health.

"What did prescription status do for opiates? Nothing. It's the easiest drug to get on the street," he said. "Why is it going to be any different for pseudoephedrine?"