TN Attorney General Says Cities Overstepped in Regulating OTC Ephedrine Drugs

by , under 306 Culture and Institutions

Tennessee Attorney General Robert E. Cooper, Jr. has issued an opinion stating that local laws requiring prescriptions for the purchase of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine drugs are a violation of state law.

pseudoephedrine pills

By ParentingPatch (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

More than a dozen Tennessee municipalities have enacted local ordinances, generally in an effort to stifle the production of illegal methamphetamines. However, Cooper’s opinion contends that only the state has the authority to impose drug regulations under Tennessee law.

The Tennessee General Assembly has enacted comprehensive regulation of the sale and distribution of products containing ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, such as Sudafed. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-431. The Attorney General believes that the state statute preempts Tennessee towns and cities from passing similar ordinances, even if such ordinances are more stringent than state law.

While the Attorney General’s opinion does not automatically overturn any existing local laws, it could be cited by someone challenging a conviction under a local ordinance. In a legal update distributed Friday, the Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS) urged any city that has adopted local regulations of this kind to consult their counsel.

For more information, read the Tennessean’s coverage and the full text of the Tennessee Attorney General’s opinion.

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