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Manchin, Republicans at odds on cold medicine

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin is urging West Virginia legislators to pass a bill that would require a prescription for a cold medication that’s used to fuel illegal methamphetamine labs.

In a letter sent this week to al1 134 members of the state’s Senate and House of Delegates, Manchin said West Virginia is facing a “meth production crisis.”

Police seized 312 meth labs statewide last year, the third highest total in state history.

“The state Legislature needs to act, or we will continue to see domestic meth production devastate our state,” Manchin, a Democrat, said Wednesday.

The Republican-controlled Legislature has shown no interest this year in a bill that would require a prescription for cold and allergy medications containing pseudoephedrine, a key meth-making ingredient.

“It’s been something we’ve talked about quite extensively here in the past, and I think it’s fair to say the majority of the House doesn’t want to go that far,” said Delegate Daryl Cowles, R-Berkeley. “I haven’t heard much of a discussion about that this year at the Capitol.”

Instead, GOP lawmakers are expected to introduce legislation, supported by the drug industry, which would set up a “meth offender registry” and block people convicted of meth-related crimes from buying pseudoephedrine products such as Claritin-D, Zyrtec-D and Sudafed.

 Republican lawmakers also might push for legislation that would lower monthly and yearly limits on the amount of pseudoephedrine consumers could buy in West Virginia…

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