Health News
- 'meds For Meth' Bill Is About To Become Law Despite Heavy Lobbying Campaign By Pharmaceutical Companies
The bill to limit purchases of a popular cold medicine used to make methamphetamine passed the General Assembly today and Gov. Steve Beshear said he would sign it. The Senate voted 29-8 to approve changes the House made in Senate Bill 3, sponsored by...
- Meds-for-meth, Pain-pill Bills Each Clear A Second Chamber; Both Probably Headed To Conference Committee(s)
"State lawmakers gave new life Wednesday to two bills designed to tackle Kentucky's problems with methamphetamine labs and prescription drug abuse," John Cheves and Jack Brammer report for the Lexington Herald-Leader. "On a 60-36 vote, the House approved...
- Anti-meth Bill Passes Senate; Limits Monthly Pseudoephedrine Purchases To 7.2 Grams A Month And 24 Grams A Year
In an effort to curb methamphetamine production, the Senate passed a bill Friday that will limit the amount of pseudoephedrine that can be bought monthly and annually. Senate Bill 3, approved 25-11, will allow consumers to buy 7.2 grams of medicine containing...
- Compromise Meds-for-meth Bill Clears Committee; Third Drug-related Bill To Pass This Week
Update, March 2: Just hours after the committee approved the bill, Senate Majority Leader Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, "declared its future uncertain," reports Jack Brammer for the Lexington Herald-Leader. Stivers said there is "a very successful lobbying...
- Meds-for-meth Compromise Bill Introduced
Lawmakers said they would compromise on the idea of making pseudoephedrine available only by prescription, and they have. Senate Bill 3 would only require a prescription for medicines containing the drug after a patient has bought 3.6 grams of it per...
Health News
House panel OKs "meds for meth" bill; chair predicts passage
The bill to limit purchases of the cold medicine used to make methamphetamine cleared another legislative hurdle Monday, and the chairman of the committee that approved it predicted that it will become law despite a heavy lobbying effort by over-the-counter drug makers.
By a 10-4 vote, the House Judiciary Committee approved a version of Senate Bill 3 that differs slightly from the version passed by the Senate. Rep. John Tilley, a Hopkinsville Democrat and the committee?s chairman, predicted the revised SB 3 will pass on the House floor. "Tilley said Senate leaders have signed off on the changes the House committee made," Jack Brammer reports for the Lexington Herald-Leader. The House version clarifies "language regarding prescriptions" and would ban "criminals convicted of meth-related offenses from purchasing pseudoephedrine for a five-year period," Mike Wynn of The Courier-Journal reports.
The core of the bill would allow consumers without meth records to buy 7.2 grams of medicines with pseudoephedrine each month, approximately a two-week dose, and up to 24 grams per year, without a prescription. Another 7.5 grams a month or 90 grams a year could be available with a prescription. "Experts have testified that those amounts are adequate for most cold and allergy sufferers, and more than 90 percent of all purchasers use dosages that fall below the proposed thresholds," Wynn reports. "State law already limits purchases to 9 grams per month, with a yearly cap of 108 grams, and purchasers are required to present a photo ID and sign a log at the point of sale."
The bill would not apply to gelcaps, which are more difficult to use for meth, or liquids, which are used for children. (Read more)
By a 10-4 vote, the House Judiciary Committee approved a version of Senate Bill 3 that differs slightly from the version passed by the Senate. Rep. John Tilley, a Hopkinsville Democrat and the committee?s chairman, predicted the revised SB 3 will pass on the House floor. "Tilley said Senate leaders have signed off on the changes the House committee made," Jack Brammer reports for the Lexington Herald-Leader. The House version clarifies "language regarding prescriptions" and would ban "criminals convicted of meth-related offenses from purchasing pseudoephedrine for a five-year period," Mike Wynn of The Courier-Journal reports.
The core of the bill would allow consumers without meth records to buy 7.2 grams of medicines with pseudoephedrine each month, approximately a two-week dose, and up to 24 grams per year, without a prescription. Another 7.5 grams a month or 90 grams a year could be available with a prescription. "Experts have testified that those amounts are adequate for most cold and allergy sufferers, and more than 90 percent of all purchasers use dosages that fall below the proposed thresholds," Wynn reports. "State law already limits purchases to 9 grams per month, with a yearly cap of 108 grams, and purchasers are required to present a photo ID and sign a log at the point of sale."
The bill would not apply to gelcaps, which are more difficult to use for meth, or liquids, which are used for children. (Read more)
- 'meds For Meth' Bill Is About To Become Law Despite Heavy Lobbying Campaign By Pharmaceutical Companies
The bill to limit purchases of a popular cold medicine used to make methamphetamine passed the General Assembly today and Gov. Steve Beshear said he would sign it. The Senate voted 29-8 to approve changes the House made in Senate Bill 3, sponsored by...
- Meds-for-meth, Pain-pill Bills Each Clear A Second Chamber; Both Probably Headed To Conference Committee(s)
"State lawmakers gave new life Wednesday to two bills designed to tackle Kentucky's problems with methamphetamine labs and prescription drug abuse," John Cheves and Jack Brammer report for the Lexington Herald-Leader. "On a 60-36 vote, the House approved...
- Anti-meth Bill Passes Senate; Limits Monthly Pseudoephedrine Purchases To 7.2 Grams A Month And 24 Grams A Year
In an effort to curb methamphetamine production, the Senate passed a bill Friday that will limit the amount of pseudoephedrine that can be bought monthly and annually. Senate Bill 3, approved 25-11, will allow consumers to buy 7.2 grams of medicine containing...
- Compromise Meds-for-meth Bill Clears Committee; Third Drug-related Bill To Pass This Week
Update, March 2: Just hours after the committee approved the bill, Senate Majority Leader Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, "declared its future uncertain," reports Jack Brammer for the Lexington Herald-Leader. Stivers said there is "a very successful lobbying...
- Meds-for-meth Compromise Bill Introduced
Lawmakers said they would compromise on the idea of making pseudoephedrine available only by prescription, and they have. Senate Bill 3 would only require a prescription for medicines containing the drug after a patient has bought 3.6 grams of it per...