Governor Matt Blunt is proposing tough restrictions on the sale of over the counter cold medications. Under a proposal unveiled in Springfield, anyone wanting to buy cold pills containing psuedoephedrine – a key ingredient in methamphetamine – would have to do so only at pharmacies. Furthermore, those buying the pills would have to agree to have their identities recorded in a police database. Blunt’s proposed restrictions would not move the over-the-counter medicines to the level of prescription drugs, but records of sales would be kept, and sales would be limited with consumers prevented from buying more than three boxes of cold pills within a 30-day period. Oklahoma and Oregon, two states with meth problems similar to those in Missouri, have already enacted legislation of this kind.
