Sort of. I mean, action:
The Senate gave final approval Thursday to broad anti-methamphetamine provisions that will impose tight curbs on the sale of popular cold remedies used to make the highly addictive drug.
The long-stalled crackdown on cold medicine sales – initially opposed by retail and drug lobbyists – passed after months of intense negotiations with those industries over the scope of the new restrictions.
The measure, part of legislation reauthorizing the Patriot Act, has already passed in the House. The president is expected to sign it.
Missouri drug investigators say there are fewer makeshift labs churning out methamphetamine, but they also warn the state’s menacing meth problem might be taking a new direction – changing from small-time illegal operations to a fertile market for imported drugs.
Police say imported meth is starting to sneak into Missouri as area drug labs shut down. Just last month, seven Mexican citizens pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of conspiring to distributes large quantities of meth in southwestern Missouri. Police in the St. Louis area say they expect to see similar cases in the area as organized crime, particularly Mexican drug-trafficking groups, take over the local meth trade.
As a result of the Talent-Feinstein meddlings and the happy Federal determination that some states could not use common sense in their retailing of certain cold remedies and that all must abide by an asinine standard since Talent and Feinstein know better than individual legislatures, crank heads will still get their meth, but my wife will not be able to stock up on Claritin when it’s on sale.
Thank you, Senator Talent. Hopefully, this year we can send you on the next step of your career: lobbyist.
