Looking for some relief from that nagging winter bug? Want to buy some cold medicine to do the trick?
Not so fast.
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon and Attorney General Chris Koster want to make Missouri the third state to require prescriptions for cold medicines that can be used to make methamphetamine.
Nixon and Koster announced their legislative proposal Tuesday at the Jasper County sheriff's office in Carthage. The prescription mandate would apply to medications containing pseudoephedrine -- a key ingredient in the illegal and highly addictive drug methamphetamine. Oregon and Mississippi already require prescriptions for pseudoephedrine.
Missouri limits how many pseudoephedrine pills people can buy. And this September, it launched an electronic database for pharmacies intended to prevent people from buying more than the legal limit. But Nixon and Koster said more safeguards are needed.
The Missouri Pharmacy Association has opposed a prescription requirement for the medication, citing the inconvenience to patients.