Senate panel takes up bill to curb Indiana meth production

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Drug offenders could have a harder time purchasing common cold and allergy medicine under a proposed bill discussed by an Indiana Senate committee Tuesday.

Corrections and Criminal Law Committee members considered a bill that would require someone with a felony drug conviction to get a prescription before purchasing medicine containing pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in making methamphetamine.

The measure is one of many in recent years aimed at curbing the state's meth problem, specifically how to curtail meth-making activities without compromising the rights of law-abiding citizens who legally obtain and use the over-the-counter cold and sinus medications.

Indiana received the unwanted No. 1 ranking in 2013 for having the most meth-related incidents in the U.S. The state will most likely top the 2014 list as well, according to more recent data.

"It's not something to be proud of," said Sen. Brent Steele, a Bedford Republican who proposed an amendment to the bill that would make pseudoephedrine a prescription-only drug for all consumers, not just convicted felons.

Similar legislation has passed in Oregon and Mississippi, but previous efforts in Indiana have been unsuccessful.

Dr. Richard Feldman, director of the family medicine residency program at Franciscan St. Francis Health in Indianapolis, said the requirement would burden the already overwhelmed doctors during the flu and allergy seasons.

"There's a month wait to see me right now," Feldman said.

The measure also could take away treatment from patients who have more legitimate health concerns, he said.

Without Steele's amendment, the original bill takes a much less drastic approach. Courts would be required to report anyone with a felony drug conviction to the National Precursor Log Exchange, a system that already tracks pseudoephedrine sales in Indiana.

Anyone on this "meth-offender block list" would need to present a prescription before a pharmacist can process the transaction.

Bill sponsor and committee chairman Mike Young, an Indianapolis Republican, said the measure is a compromise that would target those with drug-related convictions and not restrict law-abiding Indiana citizens.

"Before I go down the road to burden an honest citizen, I first want to go after the people who are doing it," Young said. "I just want it to go after the entire list of drug dealers, manufacturers and sellers."

States that have similar "meth-offender block lists," such as Oklahoma and Alabama, have seen a decline in meth labs, but it's unclear how successful the law will be in Indiana.

Indiana State Police Sgt. Niki Crawford, who oversees the agency's meth suppression unit, said the state's current criminal history system only documents a person's name and date of birth. Without further identifiers, such as a driver's license number or address, Crawford said it's possible that someone without a drug conviction could be added to the list.

The proposal might be targeting the wrong source as well.

Mexican drug cartels are suspected of manufacturing as much as 90 percent of the available quantities of meth in the country, making Indiana's homemade meth look like a minor problem compared to the massive trafficking to and from other locations.

Young said both the original bill and Steele's proposed amendment will be voted on when committee members meet next week.