OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma narcotics agents and prosecutors sought a seemingly simple fix in their meth lab fight: limit access to a key ingredient of the drug by requiring a doctor's prescription to buy it.
Instead, the group found itself outmanned by a politically connected and well-financed drug lobby. Just three weeks into the legislative session, two prescription-only bills were killed in separate House and Senate committees.
And leaders in both the House and Senate acknowledge it's unlikely the issue will be revived this year.
The pharmaceutical industry has succeeded in stopping prescription-only bills in two more states and stalling the measures in two others.
Methamphetamine is a highly addictive illegal stimulant. Oklahoma is consistently ranked as one of the top states in the country for number of meth lab seizures per year.
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