By James B. Bartle
Following a public meeting on a proposed ordinance on pseudoephedrine requiring a prescription several weeks ago in Sullivan, it’s still not clear at this time what direction the Sullivan city council will take.
A public meeting was held at the Sullivan High School theater to hear comments from Franklin County Narcotics Enforcement, Commander Jason Grellner, as he attempted to explain the need for a prescription only ordinance on pseudoephedrine products to help stop methamphetamine labs.
An ordinance was passed in the city of Washington this year and just last week the city of Union became the second city in the county to adopt such an ordinance.
Grellner addressed several residents and the media during his presentation, along with three Sullivan city council members. Since that meeting, the council has only had one meeting and may address the issue during their Oct. 20 meeting.
Sullivan mayor, J.T, Hardy, commented to the Independent News on Saturday that the issue may be brought up before the council at their Tuesday meeting, but did not state what direction the council would take and whether Sullivan would become the third municipality in the county to adopt such an ordinance.
Hardy did state that he would like to see a piece of legislation on the state level to address this issue.
Hardy also felt that the council wanted to see what would happen with threats of litigation in the city of Washington over their ordinance.
“We had the public forum on this issue and there were people that spoke for a prescription ordinance and those against it,” said Hardy. “Truthfully, this should really be a state or federal issue, but I expect the council may discuss this Tuesday night.”
In an Associated Press article, Union mayor, Mike Livengood, stated that he would prefer to see a statewide prescription only law.
“But they don’t seem like they want to address it,” said Livengood. “We figured, at the grassroots level, we’d start at the bottom and work our way up, and maybe, maybe, they’ll realize we’re serious about this issue.”
The state of Oregon, in 2006, became the first state in the country to require a prescription for pseudoephedrine while California and Oklahoma are looking to adopt a similar law.
The country of New Zealand recently approved a similar law while the country of Mexico has banned the substance completely in their country.
Grellner has stated that meth labs cannot operate without pseudoephedrine, as they are the “chocolate chip” needed in the meth recipe. He has held several public forums on this issue throughout Franklin County. He has also indicated that labs in Oregon have gone from over 400 a year down to less than 20.
At press time, the Sullivan City Council agenda did not have an ordinanc