Governor asks social and health care workers to lobby for meth law

Governor Vilsack’s urging Iowa social workers, nurses, doctors and others in the health care professions to lobby legislators on the meth bill. Vilsack spoke to about two-hundred medical and social service providers at a conference Tuesday in Des Moines. Vilsack says it is far too easy to go to a store and buy the makings for meth. A bill pending in the legislature would restrict the sale of cold medications that contain pseudoephedrine, the key ingredient for meth. “Each state that passes such a law is systematically driving these manufacturers out of the state, out of business,” Vilsack says. “That is the goal of this law, to make it literally impossible to have these labs.” Vilsack says this is personal for him.Vilsack’s mother was an alcoholic. “I know what it means to be in a home where there is substance abuse…I know what it means to see someone try to commit suicide because they are so despondent,” he says. Chaney Yeast is the manager of the child protection center at Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines. Yeast says controlling pseudoephedrine will make a huge difference and reduce the number of meth labs found in Iowa. She says it makes sense to put the cold and allergy remedies that contain pseudoephedrine behind the pharmacy counter, even if means some rural Iowans may have to stock up. Yeast says it’ll be a minor inconvenience, but one that “we need to take on” to rid Iowa of the meth problem. She sees the children who’re harmed by their parents addiction to meth. Yeast says the kids are neglected, and their health deteriorates and many do not develop as quickly as their peers.