Anti-meth legislation

A nationwide alarm several years ago about the ready availability of an ingredient used in producing methamphetamine led to a host of state and federal laws restricting access to over-the-counter medicines.

Now some states and municipalities are taking the next step to make it harder for makers of the illegal drug to obtain the necessary pseudoephedrine that is also part of some over-the-counter cold allergies and medications.

Meth manufacturers obtained the ingredient by purchasing large quantities of the medications that were once easy to obtain anonymously. Culminating a national campaign to limit access, federal law now requires medicines containing pseudoephedrine to be kept behind the counter with limits on how much law-abiding consumers can purchase every month. Buyers' names are recorded in a log available to police to detect possible meth labs. Some places even established a minimum age for purchasing the medications.

Now lawmakers are considering more stringent and ill-timed measures following Oregon's example, the Wall Street Journal reports. It became the first state in the nation to require a doctor's prescription to purchase many cold medicines. The Missouri cities of Washington and Union enacted ordinances requiring a prescription this year. Similar laws are under consideration at the state level in Missouri and California, and Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden plans to introduce federal legislation this year.

In response to concerns, some drugmakers have developed medicines that do not contain pseudoephedrine, but the laws create an inconvenience for those seeking a treatment for the sniffles for a few dollars.

Requiring a doctor's visit will unnecessarily burden millions of Americans with an added cost, assuming they can get in to see their physician (if they have one) in a timely manner.

Ironically, the legislation comes when the outcry over skyrocketing health care costs is part of the campaign for national heath care reform.