New Chanute Pseudoephedrine Ordinance
By: Jennifer Penate
Updated: March 13, 2013
Close to 4,000 boxes of the drug were sold just last year.
That 's 48 times the number of pseudoephedrine boxes sold in Parsons.
City officials say it's because Parsons-area residents are heading to chanute to buy the drug to make meth.
Chanute pharmacist Andrew Reed follows a certain rule when patrons ask for Pseudoephedrine.
"As a local owner, I have the right to use professional judgment to deny the sell for someone that I don't know," says Reed.
He says it's an effective way to keep the drug away from meth cooks.
"You run into the occasional ones who don't even know why they're buying it," he says.
But, city officials say regulation on the drug must be more stringent- saying meth labs in the area are far too prevalent.
"It's an easy product to make an easy product to sell. For safety concerns we'd like to get it out of Chanute, Kansas," says Chanute Mayor Jim Chappel.
Today marks the start of a new ordinance making pseudoephedrine prescription only.
"In the pursuit in trying to take appropriate steps to try to help our community and also the other communities in southeast kansas because of the plague this drug has made in this part of the state," says Chanute Public Safety Director Sam Budreau.
Some residents voiced concerns but others say getting a prescription is not too big of an inconvenience.
"I think if that's what's needed to control the problem, and there's definitely an issue with that, then that's what needs to be done," says resident Carla Roberts.
The rule mirrors a Parsons ordinance implemented in 2011.
Last year parsons sold 80 boxes of Pseudoephedrine. Chanute? 3,866.
"That's basically why we passed this thing. You're concerned about the residents, the children when it comes to this meth. It's highly flammable," says Chappel.
Chanute city officials will work with Parsons police to get other cities in Southeast Kansas to implement this ordinance.
They say it's the only way to push meth out of the area.
