Governor joins meth battle

The Paris (Tenn.) Post-Intelligencer: At last, Tennessee’s methamphetamine problem is coming to the front burner.

State legislators have been diddling over the issue for months, but now Gov. Bill Haslam has entered the discussion. The governor’s personal involvement suggests that the Republican-led Legislature will take notice.

The governor called last week for tighter restrictions on the sale of pseudoephedrine, a drug which is contained in common decongestants but which also is a key component of meth.

He didn’t go all out, stopping short of calling for a prescription requirement for all pseudoephedrine purchases. His suggestion amounts to a compromise: He proposed a prescription requirement for buying more than a 10-day supply of medicines containing the drug.

The important point here is that Tennessee’s meth epidemic is coming to the attention of top state leaders.