This has been another very busy week on the hill.  There has been more session time and lots of sub-committee meetings and committee meetings being held throughout the day.

On Thursday, February 12, we passed HSB 606 out of the House Public Safety Committee, as amended.   This bill prohibits the sale of 2 packages in a single transaction when pseudoephedrine is the SOLE active ingredient.

The bill requires Retailers to make one of the three following choices on where to locate packages with the SOLE active ingredient as pseudoephedrine.  They need to keep the product behind the counter, or keep within 20 feet of a counter and in view of the attendant, or anywhere in the store if an antitheft device system is in place such as a locked glass case or an electronic antitheft device system.

If this bill becomes law, will it inconvenience the law-abiding consumer?  I don’t think so; if it does it will be minimal.  One of the representatives in the Public Safety Committee is a Pharmacist and his statement was no one needed more than two packages of a cold medicine containing pseudoephedrine in their medicine cabinet at any one time.  This bill does not affect the single dosage package sold in convenience stores, nor does it affect the liquid cold medicines that contain pseudoephedrine.

The meph problem that we have in this state is serious and it is affecting Iowans in all walks of life.  Iowa has the second most reportable meph labs in the nation.  California was third in the nation but they have a much larger population.  This problem needs to be taken very seriously and law enforcement needs some additional help.

There are some that will say this bill does not go far enough in limiting the number of packages one could buy at different stores during a day.  But it is a step in the right direction in making it more difficult for meph makers to buy or steal products containing pseudoephedrine. 

Private businesses such as Hy-Vee can continue their programs that they have already made the commitment to.  The programs that Hy-Vee has put into place are actually more restrictive than this law.  Pfizer has invested $10 million to find a lock that will keep the active ingredient pseudoephedrine from being used to make meph.  More laws alone are not the answer.  But, until Pfizer finds a chemical lock, law enforcement needs help fighting this drug problem.  Government and business partnering together to find solutions is the answer. 

Anhydrous ammonia tanks are being stolen also by the meph manufactures.  There are tank locks that are being equipped on some of the tanks and other research being done on the anhydrous to see if there is a way to stop its use in the manufacturing of meph.

We are scheduled to debate the gaming bill on Thursday, February 26.  This debate will start in the morning and we will go until it is done.  Any amendments to this bill will need to be filed no later than Monday, February 23^rd and any amendments to an amendment will need to be filed no later than Tuesday, February 24^th.   This way we will have amble time to read, decipher and have the ability to make an informed decision on all amendments.  I expect there to be several amendments that will vary greatly on the direction this bill will go.  So we will need to be ready for anything and everything on this bill.

As always, I enjoy your visits at the capitol when you are in Des Moines and if you can’t make it to the capitol I would like to hear your comments.

Until next week,

Tom Sands