from Rep. Mike Colona’s enewsletter
The House of Representative’s Crime Prevention Committee held a hearing on HB496, which changes the controlled substance classification of all methamphetamine precursor drugs from Schedule IV and Schedule III, requiring a physician’s prescription. I am a member of the Crime Prevention Committee and report that there were two no votes on this matter in committee, belonging to myself and Rep. Nasheed from St. Louis. The points we brought up to our colleagues were those discussed regarding the requirement of a physician’s prescription for Sudafed. My colleague and I emphasized that many of our constituents do not have primary health care doctors or health insurance, making it very difficult for law abiding citizens to obtain Sudafed. We also thought it was important to remind the other members of the committee that while meth is a big problem, the bigger problem we see in our urban neighborhoods are those of crack and heroin. The bill does nothing to address those concerns.
