Methamphetamine makers who shop at a local pharmacy are out of luck. Drug manufacturers have come up with a new cold medication formula. Nexafed contains psuedoephedrine, which is the active ingredient in meth, but can’t be easily used to make the illicit drug. Walgreen’s pharmacist Joe Lark says his store has a new policy.
The mayor of Warsaw told our reporting partners at WNDU that the development of the new cold medicine is an alternative to Sudafed. According to Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer, Nexafed, which is available at local drug stores, has “Impede” technology which is a combination of inactive ingredients that impedes the process of manufacturing methamphetamine. When methamphetamine cooks use this drug during the process of making methamphetamine, it forms a thick gel which blocks the extraction of pseudoephedrine so it can’t be converted to meth.
While this drug doesn’t provide an immediate solution to the meth problem, it does offer hope. It could, in theory, reduce domestic production of methamphetamine.
