Kubacki Announces Filing Of PSE Scheduling Bill During Meth Seminar
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John DeGroff-
The second meeting of the Meth Awareness Partnership of 2010 was held at Center Lake Pavilion Wednesday evening.
Co-hosted by Jeff "Hoss" Smith, Serenity House, and Mary Gerard, community impact coordinator of United Way, other sponsors included the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department Drug Task Force, The Bowen Center, The Addiction Recovery Center and the Rose Home.
Other law enforcement agencies also were represented, as well as the medical and legal communities.
State Representatives Carlin Yoder of Elkhart County and Rebecca Kubacki of Syracuse presented two different approaches to dealing with meth through legislative means.
"We have big issues with meth, and I jumped into this over a year ago from what I was seeing in my district in Elkhart County," Yoder said. "Last year I introduced a bill that would stop the sale of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine at the point of sale. This is based on a program out of Kentucky that would prevent a person from purchasing more after they get to their limit. It's a computer program that runs across the state. One thing we can all agree on is that the system we have is not working."
Under current Indiana law, the sale of over-the-counter drugs containing pseudoephedrine and ephedrine are limited to persons over 18 who must show photo ID and sign a log book. No one may purchase more than 100 tablets or 3 grams during a week.
The problem with this system is methamphetamine "cookers" can use several people in various locations to purchase up to their legal limits, and existing computer systems and record keeping of larger pharmacy chains are not sharing this information.
Representative Kubacki favors the approach of making any drug containing pseudoephedrine and ephedrine prescription only.
"The excuse that this will make useful cold medicines unavailable is diluted," she said. "It's easier to make it a prescription drug than you might think."
Along with Representative Wes Culver from Goshen, Kubacki has presented a preliminary draft of House Bill 3505, which would make both pseudoephedrine and ephedrine prescription only. So far, only two states - Oregon and Mississippi - have done so. Two more states - Kentucky and Missouri - are currently discussing moving in that direction.
Kubacki said methamphetamine addiction has costs associated with it that most people aren't aware of: It takes up the time of police and fire departments from service to the community at large; those incarcerated for meth have more health problems; meth addicts are almost always unemployed, which is a drain on resources; social service agencies and the court system are also overloaded with cases because of meth; and the cost of cleanup of meth lab sites often is out of the reach of many landlords and eventually brings down property values.
"Making pseudoephedrine and ephedrine prescription only will have an impact," Kubacki said. "We've got to fight to get this done."
An officer of the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department's Drug Task Force, using only his first name, Don, gave a detailed presentation regarding his work in dealing with meth and meth addicts.
"Methamphetamine is probably the worst narcotic this country has ever seen," he said. "Fifty percent of Kosciusko County Jail inmates are there because of meth."
He said fighting meth will involve community education, writing legislators to keep focused on the problem, supporting rehabilitation efforts and notifying law enforcement of any problems regarding the manufacture of methamphetamine.
A panel made up of Kelly Bugg, Child Protective Services; Amber Blackford, attorney and parent of a meth addict; Dr. William Myers, local dentist; Sheryl Moury, St. Joe Burn Center; Mike Maxon, The Addiction Recovery Center; and a recovering addict named Cheryl, all spoke concerning the impact methamphetamine has had on their professions, their families, and the community. The panel also took questions from the audience.
During the course of the evening, other statistics regarding meth's impact on the local community were presented:
n The cost of methamphetamine addiction to the state of Indiana in 2005 was $1.87 billion.
n Indiana ranks second in the nation for the number of meth labs.
n Kosciusko County is among the top counties in the state for meth labs.
n There has been a 5.3 percent increase in Indiana's prison population because of meth.
n Sixty-two percent of children who have been made wards of the state come from homes where meth addiction has affected their parents.
More meetings of this type are being planned for 2011, said Gerard.
For more information, visit www.killingacommunity.com
