Image source: Keith Ramsey via Flickr

Tennessee’s Attorney General says state law prohibits local governments from setting their own rules for buying medicines that can be used to make methamphetamine.

Several communities recently passed local rules requiring prescriptions for pseudoephedrine, which is a key ingredient in cold remedies like Sudafed or Mucinex D. The state already mandates that people buying pseudoephedrine show ID and purchase only limited quantities. Federal law mandates that it be kept behind the pharmacy counter

In his opinion, Attorney General Robert Cooper says state legislature has reserved the right to regulate the sale of pseudoephedrine, leaving no room for further local restrictions.