Oregon House votes to require prescriptions for some cold pills

[Fiona]

http://katu.com/stories/78519.html

SALEM, Ore. - Oregon would become the first state to require a doctor's prescription for many types of cold medicines under a bill overwhelmingly passed Wednesday by the House.
The bill is part of the Legislature's attack on methamphetamine.

Backers of the bill say such drastic steps are needed to help curb availability of ingredients used to make a drug that is ruining lives.

Supporters expect the measure to pass in the Senate, and it is supported by Governor Kulongoski.

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So Oregonians need to make a doctor's appointment, pay their co-pay (if they're lucky enough to have one) in order to get some Sudafed or Nyquil? Crazy.....

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. yikes!

[oregonjen]

2. Exactly what I think...crazy!

Luckily, I can drive to Vancouver, WA to get it if I need it. I understand the desire to curb meth use, but jeez!

[wli]

3. oh crap

I appear to have chronic congestion and use Sudafed and Benadryl daily to deal with it. This is going to cause no end of trouble for me.

[benEzra]

7. My wife and I are both in the same boat as you...

without Sudafed, it's migraine city for me...I notice Wal-Mart has leaned hard on the Sudafed company to replace the active ingredient with something else, and it looks like Wal-Mart may be phasing out the pseudoephedrine-containing version altogether...I think a lot of Sudafed users are panicking a bit (including me), since Wal-mart can't keep generic pseudoephedrine HCl in stock...it gets purchased as soon as it hits the shelves...

I doubt this will seriously inconvenience meth makers, but it is a big deal for our family. We're in North Carolina, BTW--this appears to be a nationwide thing. I have heard that NC is considering a prescription requirement as well (which would hugely increase the cost to the patient), but I can't verify this.

[SmokingJacket]

4. Ah, man. I hope this doesn't catch on in other states.

I have chronic sinus problems and rely on sudafed -- I'm like addicted to the stuff. What a COMPLETE pain in the ass. Doncha think putting it behind the counter will do the trick?

Prescription? I have no health insurance...

[Fiona]

6. agreed...

make people ask for it, if must be, but requiring a prescription? That's just nuts.

[dArKeR]

5. There is a Meth problem in OR, no doubt. What I doubt is that everyone

knows about it. Everyone knows who's doing it. (The local citizens, the city workers, the Sheriffs...) I honestly believe the Sheriffs want to act but I think the DEA tell the Sheriff to stand down and let the DEA handle this. I've seen the same thing in CA. But what made my skin crawl is OR. For those of you who've just blown through, it's really really small and rual. There aren't to many things to do. What is around is too far to get to. Thus what few people there are end up in the same places time again. Citizens know what's going on but nothing is done about it. I say it's the Bush Crime Family dealing drugs with DEA protection.