(Upper left) Reps. Jon Lundberg and Timothy Hill listening to coalition members (below). Certificates of Appreciation were presented to the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office (upper right), the Bristol Police Department (middle right), and the Kingsport Police Department (bottom right) for their efforts in reducing the amount of unused medication available for abuse.
“And” / “or” - It Makes a Difference
Representatives Jon Lundberg and Timothy Hill reported that synthetic drug legislation was improved by the change of and to or. Prosecutors no longer need to prove all of the conditions stated in the law to place charges.
Retail tobacco compliance checks were also improved by another tweak. Compliance checks can now be carried out in everyone county in Tennessee.
It is too early to see any patterns in the data collected since the April implementation of Prescription Safety Act of 2012 , but a great discussion pointed out some of the remaining issues for consideration.
For the upcoming session, the Coalition was assured that hemp farm legislation was unlikely to pass. The biggest debate may be whether pseudoephedrine will require a prescription.
The Coalition also presented certificates of appreciation to all of our local law enforcement agencies in gratitude for their efforts to reduce the supply of prescription drugs in our county.
