Meth bill backers, pharmaceutical industry do battle

A Kanawha County lawmaker working to make a dozen popular cold and allergy remedies available only by prescription said supporters of the idea are engaged in "hand-to-hand combat" with pharmaceutical lobbyists.Sen. Dan Foster, D-Kanawha, and Delegate Don Perdue, D-Wayne, are among the lawmakers pushing a plan to make pseudoephedrine products prescription-only. They met Monday with the Daily Mail editorial board.Pseudoephedrine is a key element in some popular medicines, but it's also the key ingredient in the street drug methamphetamine.Pseudoephedrine products already have been put behind the counter. An ID is required to buy them, and there is a limit on how much one person can buy in a month.None of that has stopped the meth problem.So, Foster and Perdue argue it's now time to make people get a prescription before they buy the type of Advil Cold and Sinus, Sudafed and other products that contain pseudoephedrine.The plan has met concerted opposition from the pharmaceutical industry. Industry lobbyists contend a multi-state tracking system would help law enforcement officials police meth-making without forcing consumers to get prescriptions.