Pseudoephedrine is an ingredient in cold and allergy medications including Sudafed, Advil Cold and Sinus, Aleve-D Sinus and Cold, Mucinex D, Zyrtec-D and Tylenol Sinus Severe Congestion Daytime, according to the United States National Library of Medicine website.
Pseudoephedrine can also be used to make methamphetamine, which the National Institute on Drug Abuse website classifies as an “extremely addictive stimulant drug” that can lead to anxiety, violent behavior, paranoia and delusions.
Indiana is consistently in the top five states for methamphetamine-related incidents, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis and the Indiana Coalition Against Meth Making Meds back the new measure, which would require patients to receive doctors’ prescriptions before buying cold and allergy medicine containing pseudoephedrine.
Currently, Indiana law limits the amount of pseudoephedrine that purchasers can buy.
As of 2013, purchasers are allowed to buy 7.2 grams of pseudoephedrine or ephedrine every 30 days. No more than 61.2 grams can be bought in a year, according to the Indiana Methamphetamine Investigation System website.
Before selling pseudoephedrine or ephedrine over the counter, a retailer must submit the name and address of the buyer and other information about the sale to the National Precursor Log Exchange, according to the Indiana Methamphetamine Investigation system website.
Cora Henry
