Indiana Senate Supports Pseudoephedrine Restrictions
The Indiana Senate voted Monday to set more stringent restrictions on how much ephedrine and pseudoephedrine a person would be able to purchase.
The 44-4 vote in favor of Senate Bill 496 would restrict consumers to no more than 61 grams of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine per year – or about 500 pills. SB 496 is aimed at reducing the amount of cold medications that are often used to make methamphetamine.
Under the bill, only retailers taking part in the National Precursors Log Exchange database would be permitted to sell the medications. Additionally, anyone with certain meth-related convictions would be prohibited from possessing the drugs without a prescription for a period of 7 years.
Criminal penalties for anyone purchasing more than the allotted 10 grams are also increased. Often called “smurfs,” individuals who will purchase the pseudoephedrine for meth cooks in exchange for drugs or money.
Rep. Rebecca Kubacki (R-Syracuse) is a staunch supporter of the bill saying, “The use of methamphetamines is killing our communities … The current tracking system is telling us what we already know. We don’t want to track meth labs, we want to eliminate them.”
The measure now goes to the House.