A while back, Missouri legislators passed a law that would set up a statewide electronic database of people who bought cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine. That way, it would let police see if one person was buying more cold medicine than necessary and, thus, might be using it to make meth.
The only problem? The legislature didn't set aside any money to pay for it.
Now, a trade group that represents makers of over-the-counter medicine says it'll pay to set up the system, an $800K investment. It sounds like they're rattled by places like Washington, Mo., which recently voted to require prescriptions for the sale of pseudoephedrine-containing meds. The Post-Dispatch quotes a police sergeant who says a prescription rule would be more effective in fighting meth. (Though it could put a crimp in sales of cold medicine.)
