Ind. mayors arguing for tougher cold medicines law

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - - Several Indiana mayors are planning to tell state lawmakers about the problems their cities face from methamphetamine production while they seek tougher controls on the cold medications often used to make the illegal drug.

Lawmakers are considering a proposal to tighten existing limits on pseudoephedrine purchases, but mayors and some police groups say even tougher steps are needed as communities face explosions and toxic chemical cleanups tied to meth labs.

Some local officials want a law requiring a doctor's prescription to buy pseudoephedrine-based products. Mayors from Evansville, Muncie, Warsaw and Plymouth are expected to attend an Indiana House committee hearing on the issue Wednesday.

Lawmakers over the last couple years have declined to require prescriptions for the cold medicines, saying it would make them more expensive for law-abiding people.