Washington, D.C. - The Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA) today applauded West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin’s introduction of common sense legislation to the fight against methamphetamine production and abuse.
The governor’s legislation (Senate Bill 437) implements real-time, stop-sale technology to block the illegal sale of over-the-counter cold and allergy medicines containing pseudoephedrine (PSE) while protecting access to safe and effective cold and allergy medicines like Advil Cold & Sinus, Claritin D, Mucinex D, and Sudafed for law-abiding citizens. Each year, over 18 million American families rely on these FDA-approved medicines to treat common cold and seasonal allergy symptoms.
Currently West Virginia has no mechanism in place to block illegal PSE sales in real time. Instead, many pharmacies and retail stores rely on handwritten paper logbooks to track purchases. As a result, criminals have learned to circumvent the current system. SB 437 will provide a secure, interconnected electronic logbook that tracks and logs every sale in every store at the precise moment it is happening. When a purchase is made, the logbook advises retailers when to refuse a sale based on an individual’s purchase record elsewhere in the state and beyond its borders. The system also provides law enforcement officials with a new and effective tool in the fight against meth, and it is the only system that can block the illegal sale in real-time and across state lines.
“Governor Tomblin’s legislation is a common sense alternative to proposals that would require cold and allergy sufferers to obtain a prescription to access reliable and affordable medicines containing PSE,” said Carlos Gutierrez, director of state government relations for CHPA. “Families need and deserve continued access to these important cold and allergy medicines without having to visit a doctor. Governor Tomblin’s legislation presents an effective solution to fighting illegal meth production while protecting the rights of law-abiding West Virginians who rely on these medicines.”
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