Members of Congress are looking to Iowa’s law as a model for restricting the sale of certain cold and allergy medicines that might be used to make the illegal drug methamphetamine.
Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says a Senate Anti-Meth Caucus is being formed to make sure such proposed federal legislation becomes reality. Grassley says that legislation has already passed in the Senate, it’s now in the House and differences are being worked out so a bill be forwarded toward becoming law. He says “It’s one that is not quite as good as Iowa law but it doesn’t hurt Iowa law because there’s no preemption in it.”
Grassley says the federal law would be less strict than Iowa’s mandate which regulates the sale of medications that contain pseudoephedrine, an ingredient that’s also key in meth. Grassley says “Even if it’s a lesser law than what Iowa has, it’s still a good thing to have a national policy.” He says if Iowa’s law is good but Illinois doesn’t have one that’s as tough, meth makers could just go across the Mississippi River to get what they need. He says a federal law would help to stop that practice.
A news conference will be held on Wednesday in Washington D.C. to provide details of the new Senate Anti-Meth Caucus, of which Grassley is a founding member.