Mississippi Senate Passes Meth Legislation

By: Heather Burke | WJTV
Published: February 02, 2010

Later this summer, you will likely need a prescription in Mississippi to buy cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine. The key ingredient used to make illegal meth.
The senate has passed a bill requiring a doctor's prescription for these particular medicines, which you can currently get over the counter.
The governor is expected to sign the bill into law. He says he fully supports the legislation which he believes will cut down on meth-related crimes in Mississippi
Once signed, the new law takes effect July 1st.
Law enforcement officers say they busted almost 600 meth labs in the state just last year.
"When they can no longer walk into a Wal-Mart, or Walgreens, or CVS, or mom and pop drug store and get pseudoephedrine products, the manufactuor of the crystal meth venue is gonna drop dramatically," said DPS Commissioner Steve Simpson.
Some Mississippians who use the medications for legitimate reasons fear their medical bills going up, but Simpson says there are other options.
"There are twice as many products that you can take for cold and sinus then there are that are now prescriptions," said Simpson. "It's not that big of a hinderence for them."
Mississippi will become just the second state in the country to have this kind of law.