Reworked pseudoephedrine bill passes

BOISE – The Senate overwhelmingly approved a revamped bill Tuesday that targets the sale of common cold medicine containing pseudoephedrine – by targeting wholesalers, not retailers as was originally proposed.

While opponents argued the drastically changed legislation would do little to solve the methamphetamine lab problem in the state, the bill’s sponsor cited Washington’s success after passing a similar measure.

“In Washington, 40 unscrupulous wholesalers were taken out of business,” said Sen. Patti Anne Lodge, R-Huston. “This addresses the wide end of the problem. … It won’t impact law-abiding cold and allergy sufferers.”

After going through significant changes in the Senate last week, HB 272 forces wholesalers to give monthly reports on how much pseudoephedrine, one of the main ingredients in the cooking of meth, is distributed to retailers across the state. The state Board of Pharmacy also may track the sale of the popular decongestant – sold under brand names such as Sudafed, Pediacure and Sinutab – if the board thinks it’s necessary.

If the wholesalers don’t provide the reports, they can be assessed fines starting at $100.

The bill passed the Senate by a 26-7 vote. Every North Idaho lawmaker voted in favor of the measure, which now must be approved by the House as amended and receive the governor’s signature to become law.

Using Washington as an example, Meridian GOP Sen. Gerry Sweet told fellow lawmakers that the bill is “proven to work.”

“We can do a more effective job of controlling things at a wholesale level than at the retail level,” he said. “It’s easier to control hundreds of wholesalers than thousands of retailers – that’s just common sense.”

But critics of the measure said Idaho doesn’t have a problem with wholesalers.

“With lab cleanup and incarceration, meth costs (the state) a lot of money,” said Boise Democratic Sen. Elliot Werk. “This bill does nothing to attack that problem.”

The original legislation targeted retailers by limiting the sale of pseudoephedrine in pharmacies and other stores. People could have bought no more than 9 grams of the drug in a 30-day period, and they would have been required to show ID and sign a log to buy the drug from a pharmacist. Multi-symptom cold remedies that contain other drugs as well as pseudoephedrine would still have been sold in stores, just as long as they were behind the counter.

Lawmakers agreed to amend the bill after retailers and pharmacists criticized it, arguing it would lead to huge inconveniences for everyone involved – including customers in rural areas who don’t have access to all-night pharmacies.

Proponents of the new measure, however, acknowledged the Legislature will have to address the problem in more detail next year.