The West Virginia Senate has passed a bill to increase the penalty for transporting narcotics into West Virginia.
The bill increases prison time from 1 year or more to up to 15 years. The bill states that individuals convicted of the felony charge may be fined up to $25,000.
Sen. Clark Barnes asked Monday if the bill would include pseudoephedrine if the Senate bill to make Sudafed-like drugs prescription only passes in the House.
Sen. Corey Palumbo said the bill is aimed at addressing heroin issues in border states.
On Tuesday, the Senate approved an amendment to exclude pseudoephedrine and the bill was passed unanimously.
Senators put the highly anticipated prescription only pseudoephedrine bill to a vote Tuesday, but only after receiving a last minute amendment on the floor.
Senate Judiciary Chair Corey Palumbo moved to amend the bill to address someone buying cold medicine in another state and bringing it back to West Virginia.
The amendment allows a court hearing before being tried on a drug charge when a person without a prior drug conviction is caught with less than 3.6 grams, or the federal daily limit.
That person must then prove to a judge they bought the drug legally in another state and intended to use it lawfully for medicinal purposes.
A person caught with pseudoephedrine who does not have a prescription is allowed to go through the court process just one time, avoiding a drug charge, but Senator Evan Jenkins, who proposed a similar amendment Monday, wanted to know why the Judiciary Chair had originally proposed his change.
“This allows one shot, you can get out of it one time and beyond that you’re on notice,” Palumbo replied.
“You should know beyond that, that’s not something you should be doing anymore. You’re amendment would have allowed that to occur on multiple occasions.”
Palumbo’s amendment was accepted unanimously.
Before the vote, the Judiciary Chair said two years ago a similar bill was defeated by the chamber, but since, some things have changed.
First, there is a wider availability of the conversion resistant product that will continue to be available without a prescription. Second, he said the number of meth labs being discovered in the state has drastically increased, up from 229 in 2011 to 533 in 2013.
“Meth has become such a scourge in our society, such a pervasive problem that reaches all corners of the state that this is the action we need to take to eradicate these labs. It’s the best thing we can do” he said.
“Will it get rid of them totally, absolutely not, but I think it’s been shown in the other states that have tried this, the meth labs have been significantly reduced in those states.”
Senator Clark Barnes rose in opposition of the legislation, saying he’s not against reducing the number of meth labs, but had many other concerns with the bill.
“The number one problem with drugs in West Virginia is prescription pain medication,” he said. “It certainly doesn’t take a great deal of thought to realize that when you’re number one problem is already in the hands of the medical community then we may not be solving the problem by turning the meth problem over to (them).”
Barnes also took issue with the discontinuation of the NPLEX system in West Virginia, a database that tracks pseudoephedrine purchases across state lines, and the effect misdemeanor convictions may have on gun ownership rights, which Palumbo tried to address with his amendment.
Still, the bill passed 25 to 9, but not on party lines as anticipated.
Republican Senators Jenkins and Chris Walters voted to support the bill, unlike most members of their party, while Democratic Senator Truman Chafin voted against it.
A state task force says West Virginia should require prescriptions for cold medications that contain an ingredient used illegally to make methamphetamine.…
A state task force says West Virginia should require prescriptions for cold medications that contain an ingredient used illegally to make methamphetamine.
The recommendation is one of several approved Wednesday by the Governor’s Advisory Council on Substance Abuse.
The Charleston Gazette says the council also recommended that Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin oppose any legislation that would legalize marijuana for medical or recreational use.
Council member the Rev. James Patterson says there’s evidence that requiring prescriptions for cold medications containing pseudoephedrine reduces the number of meth labs.
House health committee Chairman Don Perdue says the council’s pseudoephedrine recommendation is good news. Perdude plans to introduce such legislation in January.
An industry trade group has launched a campaign in West Virginia opposing legislation that would require prescriptions for medications containing pseudoephedrine.
Pseudoephedrine is also used illegally to make methamphetamine.
The Consumer Healthcare Products Association began running ads this week on Charleston-area news websites. The group also has set up a website called Stop Meth, Not Meds, a Facebook page and a Twitter account.
Association spokeswoman Elizabeth Funderburke tells the Charleston Gazette that families rely on cold, sinus and allergy medications containing pseudoephedrine. She says the association provides a platform for them to voice opposition to prescription legislation.
House Health Committee Chairman Don Perdue and Nicholas County Sen. Greg Tucker have said they plan to introduce prescription-only bills for pseudoephedrine.
A West Virginia-based pharmacy chain is hoping to combat the illegal manufacture of methamphetamine by stocking a tamper-resistant form of the drug used…
A West Virginia-based pharmacy chain is hoping to combat the illegal manufacture of methamphetamine by stocking a tamper-resistant form of the drug used in its production.
Fruth Pharmacy, which has 27 locations in West Virginia and Ohio, announced it will begin stocking a drug called Nexafed. The tablet contains the active ingredient pseudoephedrine, similar to the popular brand-name allergy drug Sudafed.
But if an abuser tries to extract the pseudoephedrine out of Nexafed to make meth, it breaks down into a thick gel that thwarts production. That’s all thanks to a technology developed by Illinois-based Acura Pharmaceuticals.
Vice President of Marketing for Acura Brad Rivet said the product, which has been on the market since last December, is comparable to similar, more familiar drugs you may already have in your medicine cabinet.
“We’ve done a comparative study with the branded pseudoephedrine product to show that, in humans, the rate and extent of absorption in the bloodstream is virtually identical. So, the efficacy that people have come to expect with older drugs that don’t have this technology will be there for them with Nexafed,” said Rivet.
Fruth pharmacies will continue to stock other pseudoephedrine products that offer different dosages from Nexafed. The company plans to replace traditional pseudoephedrine products with the new drug as more dosages become available.
Lynne Fruth, president of the company that bears her name, admits the pharmacy may take a hit to its bottom line because of brand loyalty and those still managing to use pseudoephedrine for illicit purposes. However, she says it’s important the company plays a role in protecting the community.
“If they’re looking for the purposes of meth, they aren’t interested in buying this product. We’re having pharmacists tell us that when they say, ‘We don’t carry straight Sudafed except in the Nexafed’ then some people say ‘Well, I don’t want that stuff.’ Which, that tells us that’s probably not a legitimate purchaser of the drug,” said Fruth, who also chairs the board of her Point Pleasant-based company.
Lawmakers and policy makers try to address the growing problem in West Virginia
In West Virginia, 288 meth labs were seized last year. So far in 2013, authorities have seized over 300 meth labs, most of which were discovered in Kanawha County. In mid-May, The Charleston Gazette reported state police estimated that meth lab seizures for 2013 were on pace to double last year’s numbers.
Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito attended Fruth’s Nexafed roll-out announcement at the Lee Street location in Charleston. She suggested legislation that might curb meth production by requiring a prescription to purchase pseudoephedrine could be considered at the state level.
Credit Dave Mistich / State of WV
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State of WV
Lee Street Fruth Pharmacist Sam Arco explains the new product Nexafed as Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito and Lynne Fruth, president of the company, look on. The product contains pseudoephedrine but cannot be used in the manufacturing of methamphetamine.
“I think that’s something that’s been considered in the state and I think that’s something that, if the problem continues without a solution—or attempted solutions like the ones we’re seeing—I think that’s probably something that would be considered,” said Capito regarding a prescription requirement for the drug.
Currently only two states, Oregon and Mississippi, require a prescription for the purchase of products containing pseudoephedrine. In an op-ed from 2010 published in The New York Times, one law enforcement official from Oregon has said that tactic is translating to fewer meth lab busts.
Recent legislation passed in West Virginia keeps all products with pseudoephedrine behind the counter and puts a cap on the amount allowed to be purchased or posessed. Sales of the drug are tracked and customers must also show identification for purchase, yet Lee Street Fruth Pharmacist Sam Arco noted that meth manufacturers often outsource the purchase of pseudoephedrine to others known as “smurfs.”
“The monitoring method doesn’t really take care of everything because I can buy a box, Congresswoman Capito can buy a box and Lynne can buy a box. All of the sudden we have three boxes out there. We don’t know where it’s going. You just don’t know that all of the time,” Arco explained, hypothetically.
Even despite the use of the National Precursor Log Exchange tracking system, known as NPLEx, West Virginians are still purchasing traditional, potentially meth-yielding pseudoephedrine products at a rapid pace. About 40,000 boxes per month of the sinus medication have been sold so far this year, according to data from the state pharmacy board.
Such high sales and skyrocketing lab busts brought Del. Don Purdue (D-Wayne) to ask Attorney General Patrick Morrisey to investigate manufacturers of pseudoephedrine. The Beckley Register-Herald recently reported that Purdue intends to revisit a bill that would require a prescription for the drug.
Are smaller, independent pharmacies the key to curbing meth production?
Fruth said past the monitoring system and any legislation on the books, the ultimate decision lies in the hands of those working behind the counter.
“It is totally at the pharmacist’s professional discretion to decide if they’re going to sell pseudoephedrine. One of the things as a local family-owned company, you tend to know your customers and a lot of our pharmacists will often opt if it is somebody from out of state or a customer who is not known to them,” said Fruth.
Rivet said Acura has intentionally targeted smaller pharmacies around the country like Fruth because of their heightened ability to influence consumers.
“We started with independent pharmacies because the pharmacist at that level is obviously aware of the need in his community and they see the need for a product like Nexafed,” said Rivet.
“Because they’re their own decision makers, they can immediately choose to put Nexafed in and start stocking it and recommending it, unlike a chain pharmacist who sees the same needs—they have to get headquarter approval before a product is brought in. So, we started with the independent pharmacies, especially those in those high meth-awareness states.”
Rivet said Nexafed is currently available in over 1,400 pharmacies nationwide.
