Bill Focuses on Methamphetamine Precursors
WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 – The battle against methamphetamine use is marching through Congress.
The Methamphetamine Epidemic Elimination Act was introduced in the House last month and has received bipartisan support. A House hearing on Tuesday by the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security, on which Rep. William Delahunt (D-Mass.) sits, focused on several issues.
Along with looking to regulate importation of meth precursors, heightening criminal penalties and enacting environmental regulations, the bill seeks to tighten the grip around meth precursor sales and distribution.
Over-the-counter cold medications like Sudafed contain a drug called pseudoephedrine, which is commonly used as a decongestant or combined with antihistamines. Methamphetamine, a highly addictive stimulant drug, can be produced from over-the-counter medicines that contain pseudoephedrine.
The bill proposes to amend the Controlled Substances Act by lowering the amount of pseudoephedrine-containing product that a person can buy at one time from 9 grams to 3.6 grams.
The act also includes restrictions on the sale of the individual dosage packages on store shelves.
While the Barnstable County Sheriff’s Department has not seen a specific Cape Cod epidemic, they do see it as an important issue that affects the entire nation.
“It is definitely out there,” said Shaun Cahill of the Barnstable County Sheriff’s Department.
Detective Robert Brackett of the Harwich Police Department agrees methamphetamine is present on the Cape, but has not yet reached epidemic proportions.
“It has not yet, and I stress yet, become a problem on the Cape,” said Detective Brackett, who acknowledged Provincetown as a hotspot for meth use. “We’re bracing for the storm, because it’s coming.”
Much of the focus is on teenagers who steal or simply purchase the cold medication that includes pseudoephedrine.
Cahill said that a mixture of Robitussin and vodka, frequently called “purple rain” or “purple syrup,” has forced many pharmacies to keep closer watch on the sale of cold medication.
“Kids will go in and shoplift this stuff pretty easily,” said Cahill. “Some companies, drugstores, are talking about putting the nonprescription drugs behind the counter. The thought is these kids are going to be less likely to actually stand out and ask for it.”
But Delahunt said there needs to be more focus on treating addicts.
“In terms of the use of precursors and accountability, yes that is something that is worthy to be addressed,” Delahunt said. “But it doesn’t really go to the core issue, which is how to reduce the use of all of these drugs.”
He said treatment facilities are underfunded and overcrowded and he supports long-term treatment to reduce recidivism.
“We have to deal with the individual,” he said. “The issue of drug addiction in this country is the lack of treatment.”
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