In Mississippi, prescription no longer needed for Pseudoephedrine products

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Pseudoephedrine: The product that folks with allergies have been wanting to get their hands on in Mississippi for over a decade.

But sick people weren’t the only ones who wanted the products.

With Pseudoephedrine being the primary ingredient for meth, county sheriffs are worried they will see an increase in meth labs.

Lowndes County Sheriff Eddie Hawkins says he’s already seen one in the first 5 days.

“Yesterday morning, one of our deputies was patrolling and found a backpack that contained the remnants of a meth lab here in Lowndes County. And that’s the first one that we’ve seen in Lowndes County and approximately 10 years since the law went into effect.”

According to Director Col. Steven Maxwell with the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, legislators predicted a minor increase in meth labs, but not as many they saw in the early 2000s.

“The legislature looked at the data. And the data indicates that over the course of the past two decades, there’s been an 80 percent decrease in our country of methamphetamine, clandestine methamphetamine lab incidents reported.”

But both Sheriff Hawkins and Pace say local law enforcement agencies aren’t so sure about that.

“The Sheriff’s Association was against repealing this law because we know the cost is going to have on our local level,” said Hawkins.

“I certainly don’t want to go back to where we were in the early 2000s, where we were working multiple meth labs,” added Pace.

Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell says he is “confident that Mississippi can provide proper oversight and regulation.” And Director Maxwell agrees.

“I think we have figured it out. You’ve got the other 99% of us, who might benefit from having easier access to acquiring this medication.”

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