Possible Compromise Reached on "Snot Tax" Bill

As it has been reported on the issue of the "Snot Tax" Bill over at MicaSims.com about Citizen resistance to making Sudafed and other cold medicines with pseudoephrine in it to have a prescription it appears a compromise has been reached that momentarily satisfies most of the concerns of all parties. The reason for this original bill in 2011 was to stop meth labs in Kentucky, however, many felt the it went went too far (this bill is also filed in the 2012 session). So this year some representatives have come up with a compromise to create a meth offender registry. I could discuss the folly of the Drug War but lets just deal with the situation we have at hand right now.

When this legislative adventure started last year and believe me it was because the proponents of this prescription idea tried everything they could to pass it even with all the media attention on it. So I signed up for an organization that opposed that legislation, this year I got a statement from them in my e-mail about the compromise bill and the press conference that was had earlier this week and this is what it said

Dear Friends,

At a press conference in Frankfort yesterday, Representative Brent Yonts announced the filing of a bill that would protect the interests of law-abiding consumers, while specifically targeting criminals in Kentucky’s fight against meth.

The Cheyenne Albro Memorial Bill would include a Meth Offender Registry to require any convicted meth offenders to obtain a prescription for medications containing pseudoephedrine. This system would effectively target meth makers without infringing on the rights of legitimate consumers.

Click here to read The Associated Press coverage of yesterday’s press conference.

Several prominent supporters joined Rep. Yonts at the press event to echo the advantages of this tough-on-crime solution, including Rep. Julie Raque Adams, Major Tony King of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Lori Blakely of the Pennyrile Narcotics Task Force and Jim Waters of the Bluegrass Institute.

Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department Major Tony King said during his comments that he considers Rep. Yonts’ proposal “the best approach” to combating meth, adding that the state’s biggest problem is abuse of prescription drugs.

State Trooper Stu Recke was later quoted saying, “anything that will aid law enforcement in its fight against the meth epidemic will be greatly beneficial to not only law enforcement, but then to also the citizens of the state.”

Unfortunately, some that support an extreme policy that punishes law-abiding citizens have made misstatements about the Meth Offender Registry. The truth is that Oklahoma does have a registry, except the system is structured in such a way that it does not block meth offenders at the counter in real-time. Kentucky’s system would do just that.

CHPA supports this common sense solution for dealing with the meth problem in Kentucky. B.R. 396 is a step in the right direction for fighting meth production, while protecting the rights law-abiding Kentuckians.

To learn more visit StopMethNotMeds.com, and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

This organization is called the Consumer Healthcare Products Association and this campaign was called Stop Meth. Not Med.