Facing down a multi-million dollar advertising and lobbying blitz by Big Pharma, the West Virginia Senate, by a vote of 25 to 9, passed legislation that would put pseudoephedrine on prescription. A similar bill now moves to the House of Delegates.
Senate Republicans argued that the bill would impinge on West Virginians right to carry guns.
Senator Clark Barnes (R) said that by passing the bill, the Senate risked turning over West Virginia gun control to Attorney General Eric Holder and President Barack Obama.
If the measure becomes law, West Virginia will become the third state to pass such a law.
Mississippi joined Oregon and put pseudoephedrine products like Sudafed (Johnson & Johnson), Advil Cold & Sinus (Pfizer), Allegra D (Sanofi), and Claritin D (Merck) on a prescription only basis and effectively crippled their meth lab problems.
In 2011, the West Virginia House of Delegates passed similar legislation by a vote of 77 to 23, but the bill died in the Senate on a 16 to 16 tie vote.
Before the vote, radio talk show host Hoppy Kercheval, whose popular show Talkline has been running radio ads financed by Big Pharma with the theme “Stop Meth Not Meds,” said that if he were a Senator with a vote, he would vote for the legislation because “the police support it.”