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METH BILL FAILS, EPIDEMIC REMAINS - Legislature Buckles To Big Pharma Lobbyists |
| (03/11/2014) |
| A meth prevention bill died during the waning hours of the West Virginia Legislature, the second year it has been attempted. Legislators buckled to the pressure of Big Phama lobbyists and their statewide media blitz against making some over-the-counter cold meds used to make meth to be obtained by prescription. West Virginia authorities seized a record 533 meth labs last year, in 45 of the state's 55 counties. The bill took on a number of amendments, including the shifting of the ban to 55 county commissions, which could then decide how to limit the amount of cold medicines that can be purchased each year in their county. In this case, meth-makers would just get in their car and make a trip to a county that has not tightened the grip. The legislature, while spending 50 years taking away the governance of county commissions, have been throwing such deals back in county laps, which ends up in a major cluster from county to county. Big Pharma contended the prescription requirement for key cold medications used for meth-making would violate consumer rights and cost consumers millions of dollars. The House of Delegates gutted the bill earlier this week, passing an amendment that would lower pseudoephedrine purchases from 48 grams to 24 grams per year, a proposal first recommended by Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, a former drug company lobbyist. That change likely would have done little to reduce overall pseudoephedrine sales statewide. Only about 4 percent of West Virginians who bought the cold medication last year purchased more than 24 grams, or about 10 boxes, according to the state Board of Pharmacy.
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