Opinion No. (2009)

Dear Senator Griesheimer:

This opinion is in response to your request regarding whether "political subdivisions" have the authority to pass ordinances making the sale of products containing pseudoephedrine by prescription only.

We recognize, first, that federal law regulates the sale of many pharmaceuticals, including, to some degree, pseudoephedrine. But federal law does not prevent the ability of the State of Missouri and its political subdivisions from further regulating pseudoephedrine. Rather, Congress has preserved sufficient state regulatory authority to require dispensing by…