Meds-for-meth bill sent back to committee; compromise in the works, original sponsor says

The bill that would make pseudoephedrine — the key ingredient to make methamphetamine — available only by prescription was taken off the Senate floor Thursday afternoon. The bill's original sponsor, Sen. Tom Jensen, R-London, said "he expects a compromise is near," reports Jessie Halladay for The Courier-Journal.

"We've probably reached some consensus on where we want to go," said Jensen, right, but declined to go into details about the compromise. Of a possible concession, he would only say, "It's not necessarily what I want and it's not necessarily what the industry wants," but would be a step in the right direction.

Senate Bill 50, which was narrowly approved by the Judiciary Committee last week, has been opposed by the pharmaceutical industry, which says it imposes an unnecessary burden on users who need the medicine for the relief of colds and allergies. Many law enforcement agencies, including the Kentucky Narcotics Officers Association, support the bill, saying it would made a big dent in the number of meth labs found in the state. The bill excludes pseudoephedrine that is sold gel-cap format. (Read more)