Warsaw City Council approved a resolution Tuesday in support of a bill that would make pseudoephedrine - the key ingredient to making meth - a prescription drug.
State Representatives Rebecca Kubacki (R-Syracuse) and Wes Culver, (R-Goshen), are co-authoring House Bill 1030.
Kubacki did not attend Tuesday's meeting but in an interview with the Times-Union said she and Culver are co-authoring the bill that will be reviewed by the House in February, and if approved would go into effect July 1.
Kubacki said the biggest issue with the bill is the cost.
"When someone gets a prescription drug a pharmacy gets $4 a prescription that is billed to Medicaid," Kubacki said.
She said there would be approximately a $24,000 fiscal impact to Medicaid with making pseudoephedrine a prescription drug.
"The tax payer will save money by making it a prescription drug because I don't think they realize how much money is coming our of their pockets already because of this problem," Kubacki said.
She said there are expenses to taxpayers when meth users are transported to burn centers, not to mention the expense it costs to clean up meth labs.
The resolution the city approved states the city recognizes that the illicit use of methamphetamines is a substantial problem in Kosciusko County.
The resolution also states methamphetamines are highly addictive and reach into the lives of all social circles, destroying lives of users and their families.
The resolution also states the city supports State Representative Rebecca Kubacki in her efforts to pass House Bill 1030 which will go into effect July 1, 2011, if approved.
The city also states in the resolution that they support local community members of the group known as IAM (Indiana Against Meth), who also want to make a difference, who want to bring more awareness about the problem and help eliminate meth in Kosciusko County.
Mary Gerard, community impact coordinator for United Way, and Jeff Smith, Meth Awareness Partnership co-founder, attended Tuesday's meeting to show their support for the bill.
Gerard said on Feb. 12 at 1 p.m. at Warsaw Community High School Performing Arts Center legislators who are both for and against the bill will speak about the bill. The forum is open to the public.
Councilman Joe Thallemer came up with the idea for the resolution the city approved Tuesday.
"I support the bill and I think Rebecca is in a fight with the pharmaceutical companies and the fact that Kosciusko County is at the center of the meth problem I feel strong enough that our community ought to back her in her effort," Thallemer said.
Councilwoman Diane Quance, and councilmen Charlie Smith and Jerry Patterson said they also supported the bill.
"I support the bill 100 percent and anything we can do to help eliminate the drug problem in any way is a good thing," Patterson said.
During Tuesday's meeting, Patterson made the motion to approve the resolution, and Thallemer seconded the motion. Councilman Smith and councilwoman Quance also voted in support of the resolution.
Councilman Kyle Babcock abstained from the vote, and councilmen George Clemens and Jeff Grose were absent.
Babcock said he did not feel comfortable approving the resolution because he did not know enough about the bill.
In other business, Mike Diffendal, Borden Waste-Away Group general operations manager, attended the council meeting.
He said recycling participation in Warsaw has greatly increased with the new Borden service. More Warsaw residents are recycling with Borden for two reasons.
The reasons are the new 96-gallon cart allows residents to recycle more than two times the volume, and Borden is offering two pink cart programs that include support programs for cancer.
Diffendal said Borden Waste-Away has delivered the contracted amount of recycling carts and has ordered additional carts for the increased recycling participation.
Residents that are waiting for a new cart can continue recycling with their current city cart and the new cart will be delivered as soon as the shipment arrives.
City recycling participants with questions are encouraged to contact Borden Waste-Away at www.wasteawaygroup.com or call 800-386-3313.
A customer support representative is available to assist with any needs or to set up any resident interested in signing up for the recycling program.
