Holdenville
Holdenville Passes Pseudoephedrine Ordinance
Ever since the Oklahoma Speaker of the House ( Kris Steele ) and Dan Sullivan blocked OK HB 1235, I have been working on a way to continue the fight to stop this terrible meth epidemic we have in our state. I got the idea from Missouri because they also got blocked at the state level but started passing it city by city and with a total of 39 so far. I thought if they can do it then we can do it so I borrowed some of Missouri’s language and mixed it with Oklahoma’s language and created what we have now. I then sent it to the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics lawyers to make sure everything was in order.
In Missouri and Arkansas they were trying to restrict all pseudoephedrine or ( PSE ) for short. To me as a allergy sufferer I did not want to restrict anything that you could not make meth with. The gel caps and liquids have one molecule that prevents it being converted into meth so it is totally excluded from the ordinance and stays the way it is now. This way we have a win win because if you will take a gel cap or liquid with the same ( PSE ) in it then you will never have to get a prescription.
I got a call from one of my readers that spoke with the chief of Holdenville ( Keith Wardlow ) and then he contacted me and really wanted to get rid of the meth in his city and got it on the city council agenda. I was just finishing up my DVDs that I send out free to any police chief who wants to get rid of the meth in their town along with paperwork and a pre-written ordinance so the timing was great. I rushed my city council packet out to him and said that I would like to address the council for a few minutes.
I cannot tell you the excitement that I was feeling and when it was announced by the Mayor about the pseudoephedrine ordinance. The chief spoke first and then I spoke for around 10 minutes. I told of how bad a problem we have in Oklahoma and how easy a fix it is. My goal is to stop any Oklahoma children from burning up in the next meth explosion and stopping this evil drug. I told the council that without the dry tablet form of ( PSE ) it shuts down all the shake and bake meth labs and it was that simple. I said that we know it works because Oregon passed it in 2006 and meth labs dropped 96% in one year. Mississippi passed it six months ago and meth labs have already dropped 70% and still falling. We know this works.
The city council was really paying attention and there were several good positive questions and then they called for a vote. I cannot tell you how fast my heart was beating when one by one they gave a unanimous vote to pass the ordinance. It was not just a yes but a powerful yes to send a message to the meth dealers and the rest of Oklahoma to follow them and help run the meth cooks out of Oklahoma. To put the icing on the cake the council told me if I needed any stronger language in my ordinance to come back and see them.
I can not tell you how proud I am of Holdenville because now I am getting calls from so many police chiefs around Oklahoma requesting city council packets for their home town. For sure the movement has begun and I am just asking everyone to spread the word to every police chief in Oklahoma to have them contact me if they want to get rid of the meth cooks in their community. I have the packets standing by and I will go speak where ever I am asked to rid our great state of this terrible plague.
Thanks Holdenville, you should be very proud!
David Starkey, Publisher GelCapsStopMeth.com
918-516-5054
Oklahoma House of Representatives
Media Division
May 16, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: State Rep. Doug Cox
Capitol: (405) 557-7415
Cox Praises Holdenville Action Against Meth
State Rep. Supports Efforts
Contact: State Rep. Doug Cox
OKLAHOMA CITY(May 16, 2011): State Rep. Doug Cox, one of only two doctors serving in the Oklahoma Legislature, today praised the city of Holdenville for passing an ordinance banning the sale of medicine with pseudoephedrine that is used to make methamphetamine.
“In my work as an emergency room physician, every shift I see something related to methamphetamine, whether it is a person who is addicted, a person who is injured by an explosion from making it, or foster kids who have been removed from the home due to parents’ methamphetamine use,” said Cox, R-Grove.
House Bill 1235, by state Rep. Ben Sherrer (D-Chouteau), would have instituted a similar policy in state law. The bill passed out of the House Public Safety Committee this year, but did not receive a vote on the House floor.
“Holdenville realizes that their actions will not affect sufferers from the common cold and allergies, that there are plenty of other forms of pseudoephedrine as well as other medications that will continue to be accessible for those uses,” Cox said. “I hope Holdenville’s actions will inspire state leaders to take similar action soon.”
