Resolution Targets Meth With Prescription Change

A Louisville Metro Council committee will begin discussing a proposed resolution this week that aims to curb methamphetamine production across the state.The resolution comes from Councilwoman Vicki Welch and it asks the state legislature to make pseudoephedrine a prescription drug. Pseudoephedrine is a common ingredient in over-the-counter cold medicines, but is also extracted from those medicines for meth production.The state currently limits and tracks pseudoephedrine purchases, but Welch says that isn't stopping meth manufacturers."The meth producers have people that are called smurfers that they send out every month to get their 9 grams, and these little colonies of smurfers are producing it," she says.Meth lab arrests increased in Louisville and across Kentucky last year. Welch says she's talked with a few state legislators about the resolution, and is hopeful they will take action if it passes the council.