Culver signs pseudoephedrine change

DES MOINES – Gov. Chet Culver signed into law Wednesday a measure creating a statewide electronic database to track sales of pseudoephedrine.

Senate File 237 provides for new high-tech measures to combat illegal meth labs by replacing the the current written log system with a centralized electronic logbook at Iowa pharmacies that any person who buys cold medicine containing pseudoephedrine would have to sign.

The measure, which takes effect July 1, also will close a loophole that allows people to violate sales limits on pseudoephedrine by visiting multiple stores to purchase enough of the medication to make meth.

Iowa authorities reported a dramatic decrease in the number of illegal methamphetamine labs since the state began restricting sales of pseudoephedrine – an ingredient often found in cold medicines that is a key precursor in the production of illegal methamphetamine. However, recently those clandestine activities have made a rebound.

Backers said the move to an electronic database with real-time tracking would cost about $750,000 over two years under a requested federal grant. The Office of Drug Control Policy will work with a committee of four pharmacists to set up the database and its governing rules.

Critics expressed concern the system of requiring buyers to show an official identification card and have their purchases recorded would violate the medical privacy rights of innocent individuals while criminals would thwart the system using fake identification.

Also Wednesday, Culver signed legislation to amend the state's human trafficking law to extend the definition of "commercial sexual activity" to include any sexually explicit performance for which anything of value is given, promised or received beyond the current law's provisions for prostitution, participation in the production of pornography and performances in strip clubs.

The criminal statute carries felony penalties ranging up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine under Senate File 27.

The governor also signed legislation that will change the name of the Iowa Department of Elder Affairs to the Department of Aging, which has drawn considerable attention over the state agency's new DOA acronym.