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A single idea has lead one local doctor on a mission to bring methamphetamine production to a standstill.
Dr. Larry Anderson was reading an Opinion Editorial in The New York Times by District Attorney for Lincoln County, Ore., Rob Bovett — a key player in Oregon’s anti-meth laws.
In the article, “How to Kill the Meth Monster” Bovett says tracking behind the counter sales of pseudoephedrine — a key ingredient in the making of meth and found in many cold and allergy medicines — is ineffective and since Oregon moved the product to prescription-only status, crime rates have dropped the most in 50 years.
A bill passed by Congress in 2006 moved products containing pseudoephedrine behind the pharmacy counter, available without a prescription, but Anderson says it’s not doing anything to curb illegal use.
Anderson, having been on the frontline of the meth epidemic and seeing the heartache, suffering and cost to the community through his patients, started taking action.
“I’ve spent hundreds of hours with youth in the community that have been damaged by their parents’ involvement in illegal drugs, to include methamphetamine ... I made copies of that articles and with a short letter sent it to [state representatives] Vince Wetta and Pete DeGraaf and the Attorney General Derek Schmidt and several other people, most of them medical people, and I kind of thought that would be the end of it for me,” said Anderson.
It didn’t stop there. Rep. Wetta (D-Wellington) and DeGraaf (R-Mulvane) latched onto the idea and presented it the state legislature. Sen. Steve Abrams (R-Arkansas City) has introduced a similar bill to the Senate.
“He’s really adamant about this and the more I study this and what it’s costing us —even if you don’t count the social devastation, the families ruined and the other things, if you just go on money —we’ll save millions by passing this law,” Wetta said.
Legislation in Oregon and Mississippi have nearly squashed all meth production in their respective states, Anderson said.
“I think the main thing is that I’m doing this to help families and children and save tax dollars ... in essence what we are trying to do is stamp out domestic methamphetamine production and without pseudoephedrine, there is no ... production,” Anderson said.
Sumner County Sheriff Gerald Gilkey is excited to see something being done on a legislative level.
“It’s going to make life more difficult for the methamphetamine producer. That’s the thing about illegal things. If someone wants it, they are going to get it. The only thing we can do is try and make things as hard as possible,” Gilkey said. “It would darn sure slow things down.”
Bringing a doctor into the equation could also have positive results.
“It could very well lead to that,” Gilkey said. “It does give us a chance for medical intervention to help curb their indulgences.”
Getting the law passed, however, won’t be easy.
“The pharmaceutical companies are all up in arms and they have a lot of power. It won’t be easy and a lot of people who are in the know say it is going to take two years to pass this because of the people against us,” Wetta said.
Wetta has heard some negative comments about the proposed law, but, with help from both sides of the political fence, there is hope it will pass.
“I feel that it’s worth it,” Wetta said.
Regular citizens are also having trouble understanding why something that has always been available to them without a trip to the doctor is causing such problems.
“They will have to contact a doctor to get pseudoephedrine, but there are dozens of other medicines over the counter that may be just as good, or may be better than pseudoephedrine,” Anderson said. “Now if that’s the only drug that will cure your runny nose, then you will have to contact a doctor. No one ever died from a runny nose, but people are dying from methamphetamine all the time.”
Around $600 million in sales for pseudoephedrine causes a battle of $23 billion to fight meth, Anderson said.
“It’s just not a trade off, it’s just crazy,” he said.
Others fear doctors’ offices will be flooded with patients and will lower the quality of care for everyone.
“That’s not happened anywhere,” Anderson said. “What happens is people just use something else or get a prescription when they go see their doctor for their diabetes, or their hypertension or their back sprain.”
Even if the state law comes to be, unless the idea is taken nation-wide, meth could still cause headaches for local law enforcement.
“That’s the problem with bring a border County, we have border jumpers...,” Gilkey said. “We know of people now that, since they have put it behind the counter, people go clear to Arkansas to gather up pseudoephedrine and bring it back here to produce methamphetamine. These folks have nothing but time on their hands and they’ll go to all kinds of lengths to feed their habit,” Gilkey said.
The idea of making the ban federal law is now in the hands of Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, who recently introduced it to Congress.
The next step in the lawmaking process involves Anderson speaking to the House Committee for Juvenile Justice and Corrections, Wednesday afternoon.
A single idea has lead one local doctor on a mission to bring methamphetamine production to a standstill.
Dr. Larry Anderson was reading an Opinion Editorial in The New York Times by District Attorney for Lincoln County, Ore., Rob Bovett — a key player in Oregon’s anti-meth laws.
In the article, “How to Kill the Meth Monster” Bovett says tracking behind the counter sales of pseudoephedrine — a key ingredient in the making of meth and found in many cold and allergy medicines — is ineffective and since Oregon moved the product to prescription-only status, crime rates have dropped the most in 50 years.
A bill passed by Congress in 2006 moved products containing pseudoephedrine behind the pharmacy counter, available without a prescription, but Anderson says it’s not doing anything to curb illegal use.
Anderson, having been on the frontline of the meth epidemic and seeing the heartache, suffering and cost to the community through his patients, started taking action.
“I’ve spent hundreds of hours with youth in the community that have been damaged by their parents’ involvement in illegal drugs, to include methamphetamine ... I made copies of that articles and with a short letter sent it to [state representatives] Vince Wetta and Pete DeGraaf and the Attorney General Derek Schmidt and several other people, most of them medical people, and I kind of thought that would be the end of it for me,” said Anderson.
It didn’t stop there. Rep. Wetta (D-Wellington) and DeGraaf (R-Mulvane) latched onto the idea and presented it the state legislature. Sen. Steve Abrams (R-Arkansas City) has introduced a similar bill to the Senate.
“He’s really adamant about this and the more I study this and what it’s costing us —even if you don’t count the social devastation, the families ruined and the other things, if you just go on money —we’ll save millions by passing this law,” Wetta said.
Legislation in Oregon and Mississippi have nearly squashed all meth production in their respective states, Anderson said.
“I think the main thing is that I’m doing this to help families and children and save tax dollars ... in essence what we are trying to do is stamp out domestic methamphetamine production and without pseudoephedrine, there is no ... production,” Anderson said.
Sumner County Sheriff Gerald Gilkey is excited to see something being done on a legislative level.
“It’s going to make life more difficult for the methamphetamine producer. That’s the thing about illegal things. If someone wants it, they are going to get it. The only thing we can do is try and make things as hard as possible,” Gilkey said. “It would darn sure slow things down.”
Bringing a doctor into the equation could also have positive results.
“It could very well lead to that,” Gilkey said. “It does give us a chance for medical intervention to help curb their indulgences.”
Getting the law passed, however, won’t be easy.
“The pharmaceutical companies are all up in arms and they have a lot of power. It won’t be easy and a lot of people who are in the know say it is going to take two years to pass this because of the people against us,” Wetta said.
Wetta has heard some negative comments about the proposed law, but, with help from both sides of the political fence, there is hope it will pass.
“I feel that it’s worth it,” Wetta said.
Regular citizens are also having trouble understanding why something that has always been available to them without a trip to the doctor is causing such problems.
“They will have to contact a doctor to get pseudoephedrine, but there are dozens of other medicines over the counter that may be just as good, or may be better than pseudoephedrine,” Anderson said. “Now if that’s the only drug that will cure your runny nose, then you will have to contact a doctor. No one ever died from a runny nose, but people are dying from methamphetamine all the time.”
Around $600 million in sales for pseudoephedrine causes a battle of $23 billion to fight meth, Anderson said.
“It’s just not a trade off, it’s just crazy,” he said.
Others fear doctors’ offices will be flooded with patients and will lower the quality of care for everyone.
“That’s not happened anywhere,” Anderson said. “What happens is people just use something else or get a prescription when they go see their doctor for their diabetes, or their hypertension or their back sprain.”
Even if the state law comes to be, unless the idea is taken nation-wide, meth could still cause headaches for local law enforcement.
“That’s the problem with bring a border County, we have border jumpers...,” Gilkey said. “We know of people now that, since they have put it behind the counter, people go clear to Arkansas to gather up pseudoephedrine and bring it back here to produce methamphetamine. These folks have nothing but time on their hands and they’ll go to all kinds of lengths to feed their habit,” Gilkey said.
The idea of making the ban federal law is now in the hands of Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, who recently introduced it to Congress.
The next step in the lawmaking process involves Anderson speaking to the House Committee for Juvenile Justice and Corrections, Wednesday afternoon.
