Kentucky Representative, Brent Yonts, Proposes Legislation That Will Bar Convicted Meth Heads From Purchasing Pseudoephedrine. Is This Even Constitutional?
Rep. Yonts proposes different option to curb meth
FRANKFORT, KY. — A House member offered a proposal Tuesday to fight methamphetamine abuse in Kentucky, where lawmakers have been in a stalemate over whether to make cold and allergy medications containing pseudoephedrine available only by prescription.
Rep. Brent Yonts, D-Greenville, said his plan would prevent more than 5,500 people with meth-related convictions from buying medications containing pseudoephedrine, the key ingredient in the illegal drug that is widely abused in the state.
“It does not punish law-abiding citizens,” he said. “It is a common-sense, middle ground solution to the problem of the scourge of meth that pollutes our society.”
Over the past year lawmakers have been debating whether to restrict sales of certain cold and allergy medications to people with prescriptions. That idea didn’t get enough support to pass in this year’s legislative session but is expected to be considered again when lawmakers convene in January.
Yonts’ proposal would create a meth-offender registry containing names of people convicted of making or selling meth. If anyone on that computerized registry tries to purchase medications containing pseudoephedrine, police would be automatically alerted.
The proposal also would limit the amount of pseudoephedrine that a person could purchase to 7.5 grams a month and 60 grams a year to prevent “smurfing,” the practice of sending others to purchase the medications to get around the limits. That would be roughly the equivalent to two boxes a month, or 20 per year.
Yonts said his proposal could reduce meth production by targeting criminals, not cold and allergy sufferers.
Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department Major Tony King said he considers Yonts’ proposal “the best approach” to combating meth. King said widespread abuse of prescription pills in Kentucky, particularly painkillers such as OxyContin, show that making pseudoephedrine available only by prescription isn’t the answer.
But Thomas M. Loving, executive director of the Kentucky Narcotic Officers’ Association, said in a statement that the bill is one that “the pharmaceutical industry pushed for two years ago with a new twist. It does nothing to control smurfing and ... will do nothing to stop the spread of meth labs in Kentucky.”
Lawmakers ignited a political firestorm when the proposal to require prescriptions for pseudoephedrine came up in this year’s legislature. Opponents and proponents flocked to Frankfort to make their cases on what became one of the most divisive issues of the last legislative session.
Opponents said that proposal punished families who use the medications legitimately and who would have to pay for doctor visits to get a product that’s now sold over the counter. Proponents said the meth problem had become so severe that prescriptions were necessary to get pseudoephedrine out of the hands of meth makers.
FRANKFORT, KY. — A House member offered a proposal Tuesday to fight methamphetamine abuse in Kentucky, where lawmakers have been in a stalemate over whether to make cold and allergy medications containing pseudoephedrine available only by prescription.
Rep. Brent Yonts, D-Greenville, said his plan would prevent more than 5,500 people with meth-related convictions from buying medications containing pseudoephedrine, the key ingredient in the illegal drug that is widely abused in the state.
“It does not punish law-abiding citizens,” he said. “It is a common-sense, middle ground solution to the problem of the scourge of meth that pollutes our society.”
Over the past year lawmakers have been debating whether to restrict sales of certain cold and allergy medications to people with prescriptions. That idea didn’t get enough support to pass in this year’s legislative session but is expected to be considered again when lawmakers convene in January.
Yonts’ proposal would create a meth-offender registry containing names of people convicted of making or selling meth. If anyone on that computerized registry tries to purchase medications containing pseudoephedrine, police would be automatically alerted.
The proposal also would limit the amount of pseudoephedrine that a person could purchase to 7.5 grams a month and 60 grams a year to prevent “smurfing,” the practice of sending others to purchase the medications to get around the limits. That would be roughly the equivalent to two boxes a month, or 20 per year.
Yonts said his proposal could reduce meth production by targeting criminals, not cold and allergy sufferers.
Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department Major Tony King said he considers Yonts’ proposal “the best approach” to combating meth. King said widespread abuse of prescription pills in Kentucky, particularly painkillers such as OxyContin, show that making pseudoephedrine available only by prescription isn’t the answer.
But Thomas M. Loving, executive director of the Kentucky Narcotic Officers’ Association, said in a statement that the bill is one that “the pharmaceutical industry pushed for two years ago with a new twist. It does nothing to control smurfing and ... will do nothing to stop the spread of meth labs in Kentucky.”
Lawmakers ignited a political firestorm when the proposal to require prescriptions for pseudoephedrine came up in this year’s legislature. Opponents and proponents flocked to Frankfort to make their cases on what became one of the most divisive issues of the last legislative session.
Opponents said that proposal punished families who use the medications legitimately and who would have to pay for doctor visits to get a product that’s now sold over the counter. Proponents said the meth problem had become so severe that prescriptions were necessary to get pseudoephedrine out of the hands of meth makers.
Labels: Crime, Punishment
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 4:27 PM
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