MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT) -- There’s been strong reaction to yesterday’s release of an opinion by the State Attorney General questioning the legality of local ordinances that make the purchase of some cold medications by prescription only.
In recent months, several Tennessee communities passed ordinances making the sale of pseudoephedrine-based cold medications by prescription. The measures are an attempt to disrupt the supply of chemicals used to make methamphetamine.
But late last week, Attorney General Bob Cooper opined the local ordinances violate state law. He says the Tennessee General Assembly clearly intended to reserve for itself the power to control meth pre-cursor drugs.
The Tennessee Pharmacists Association weighed in overnight with a statement praising the AG’s opinion.
State Senator Mae Beavers also weighed in, saying she looks forward to revisiting the meth problem with what she calls “balanced solutions that target criminals, not law-abiding Tennesseans." Beavers sponsored a recently passed measure that tracks cold medication purchases, but stops short of requiring a prescription.
Winchester Police Chief Dennis Young has led a statewide charge to pass local prescription-only ordinances and was disappointed by the AG’s ruling.
“We’re fighting the big pharmaceutical industry that wants to keep these products on the market, at the expense of our communities and the expense of our children.”
Young says Tennessee’s law enforcement associations will continue to press lawmakers to further tighten the state’s anti-meth regulations.