By Eric Eyre
Charleston Gazette
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — State Senate committee members on Thursday rejected a proposal designed to clamp down on methamphetamine labs by making a popular decongestant prescription-only in West Virginia.
On a voice vote, the Senate Health and Human Resources Committee shot down an amendment to Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s wide-ranging substance abuse bill. The amendment — offered by state Sen. Dan Foster, D-Kanawha — would have required a prescription for pseudoephedrine, a key meth-making ingredient.
Instead, the committee passed a bill that calls for a “real-time” electronic tracking system designed to stop illegal pseudoephedrine sales at pharmacies.
“This targets criminals, not the average citizen,” said Sam Minardi, a lobbyist for the Consumer Healthcare Products Association. “Gov. Tomblin’s proposal is a commonsense approach. It’s the logical first step.”
After the meeting, Foster said he was disappointed that the committee voted down his push to make pseudoephedrine prescription-only.
“I’ve made my pleas,” he said.
The proposal is expected to come up again at Senate finance and judiciary committee meetings. The House also is considering Tomblin’s bill — and delegates are expected to try to tack on a prescription-only amendment.
Earlier this week, a Kentucky law enforcement officer told the Senate committee that the proposed electronic tracking system — called NPLEx — doesn’t work. The pharmaceutical industry plans to pay for the system, which provides immediate reports to police about suspect pseudoephedrine sales.
Meth lab seizures in Kentucky increased 250 percent after that state started using NPLEx, Foster said.
“Why do we want a system that doesn’t work?” he asked.
Minardi said NPLEx is a multi-state monitoring system that will prove successful once more states start using it.
Last year, the Senate health committee passed a bill that would have made pseudoephedrine prescription-only, but the proposal died in the full Senate on a tie vote.
Health care lobbyists said the proposal has less momentum this year because state lawmakers have an alternative with the NPLEx tracking system.
Minardi said West Virginia’s meth lab problem pales in comparison to other states, such as Missouri, Alabama and Tennessee.
“One meth lab is one too many,” he said. “But we don’t have the meth lab issue they have.”
Kentucky lawmakers also are considering a bill that would require a prescription for pseudoephedrine.
Currently, pharmacies keep the popular cold and allergy medicine behind the counter. Purchases are entered into a logbook, but don’t require a doctor’s prescription.
In recent years, Mississippi and Oregon have both enacted laws that make pseudoephedrine prescription-only.
“There has been no public outcry about the change,” Foster said. “People have turned to other [cold and allergy] products.”
Meth lab seizures have declined significantly in both states since those laws took effect.
Drug industry lobbyists say a pseudoephedrine prescription mandate would drive up health care costs.
However, a Kanawha County teacher told the Senate committee that her medication costs increased from $80 to $1,000 per year after her allergy drug went from prescription-only to over-the-counter.
“For me, I would save a lot of money if pseudoephedrine became a prescription,” said Angela Harless, who teaches at Elkview Middle School. “My insurance would pay for it.”
The West Virginia Board of Pharmacy, Board of Medicine, and Medical Association support requiring a prescription for pseudoephedrine.
After his proposal failed, Foster introduced a second amendment that would require the state to adopt a pseudoephedrine prescription-only law if the number of meth labs in West Virginia increased in either of the next two years.
Committee members rejected that proposal, saying other factors, such as the economy and job losses, could unfairly sway the numbers.
Also Thursday, about two-dozen substance abuse treatment advocates and recovering addicts spoke in favor of Tomblin’s bill during a public hearing in the House chamber. No one spoke against the legislation.
Speakers urged the governor to include funding for addiction treatment facilities in the bill.
Several speakers called prescription drug abuse in West Virginia an “epidemic.”
“The time for study and discussion is over,” said Patti Hamilton, executive director of the West Virginia Association of Counties. “The time is for action. The time is for funding.”
Other speakers noted that some counties in West Virginia don’t have substance abuse treatment facilities.
“In the state of West Virginia, we just don’t have enough help,” said Debby Hibbard, who lives in Huntington and has watched close relatives battle drug addiction. “We either spend it on jails and courts or we put more money into [treatment] funding. I can only pray that Governor Tomblin puts more money into funding treatment.”
Several judges also told lawmakers about the shortage of treatment facilities.
“I’ve just left a woman who’s eight months pregnant,” said Kanawha County Circuit Judge Jennifer Bailey. “She’s addicted to OxyContin and opiates, and so is her baby, and I have no place to put her.”
James Brammer, a Raleigh County native, said lawmakers must act swiftly to tackle the state’s substance abuse problem and provide additional financial support to drug treatment centers.
Brammer described himself as a “dead man walking” until he found help for his drug addiction at a treatment facility in Charleston.
“Without these places, you’re going to see a lot of kids die,” Brammer said. “You’re going to see a lot of people die.”
Copyright 2012 Charleston Newspapers