The Washington Legislature could take up a measure aimed at further regulating and tracking sales of over-the-counter cold medicines through an electronic database.
A bill by Roy Republican Rep. Tom Campbell would set up an automated computer system to track people who buy cold medicines containing ephedrine, or other ingredients essential to methamphetamine production.
State law already requires stores to keep the cold medicines out of public reach and limit how much a single customer can buy. But Campbell says nothing prevents people from going from store to store and buying more cold medicine from different vendors.
Supporters of the measure, including the Washington Association of Sheriffs & Police Chiefs, say an electronic tracking system could help determine whether a customer has already purchased cold medicine elsewhere in Washington or even in another state.
The system would work by scanning a person’s driver’s license and blocking the sale if he has exceeded the legal purchase amount for the drugs.
Campbell’s proposal also would restrict the amount of certain cold medicines that individual customers can buy, from the current limit of six grams per day, to 3.6 grams per day, and no more than nine grams in a 30-day period.
The ACLU opposes the bill, saying it would invade privacy and treat legitimate drug buyers like potential criminals. (The Olympian)
