Rep. Valerie Clark, R-Lawrenceville, urged fellow lawmakers on Tuesday to pass legislation that would enforce purchasing limits on products containing pseudoephedrine, a common ingredient in allergy medicine.
House Bill 588 would provide supermarket and independent pharmacies with an electronic system to deter purchases of pseudoephedrine products to make methamphetamine. Clark said 32 states already use similar systems, including all those around Georgia.
“Folks come to Georgia, and they’re visiting our state with the sole purpose of purchasing pseudoephedrine products for the purpose of making meth,” said Clark.
The representative said Georgia's meth problem "has increased greatly" in recent years. She cited the case of a Lilburn mother who was was sentenced to 30 years in prison after a meth lab explosion in her home killed her three children.
The electronic system HB 588 proposes would record the buyer’s information and enforce the nine-gram purchasing limit of pseudoephedrine. The system would generate stop sale alerts if a purchase exceeds a buyer’s legal limit.
CVS Pharmacy and similar retailers already use the electronic system. The cost of the system keeps supermarket and independent pharmacies from using it.
Sponsors of the bill said manufacturers of allergy medicines containing pseudoephedrine would pay for the electronic system. The manufacturers would offer the system free of charge to the state, pharmacies and law enforcement.
Clark said this legislation should not affect people who use allergy medication regularly. She said their current legal “amount is not being lowered in any way.”
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