The Indiana House has approved a bill that would require computerized tracking by retailers of cold medications used in making methamphetamine.The vote was 78-11The bill would have all stores selling pseudoephedrine enter the identity of customers into a multistate database and limit a person to buying 7.2 grams of those drugs in a 30-day period. The bill’s sponsor says that’s the amount found in about one box of cold medicine. The tracking system is already in place in Kentucky and other states.Opponents of the law, including some law enforcement officials, are calling for a tougher measure that would require prescriptions for those medicines.Others say the prescriptions would be too inconvenient for law-abiding people.The Senate has approved a similar bill. The two measures will be sent to a conference committee for reconciliation.(Information for this story came from the Associated Press)
Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.
