HILLSBORO — Over an hour of testimony in favor of a bill being touted as the panacea to Jefferson County's methamphetamine lab problem appeared to do little to convince two county executives that it will work.

The other county executive, Chuck Banks, proposed a bill in July that would require a prescription for the sale of some common cold and allergy medications that contain pseudoephedrine, the key ingredient found in meth.

Currently, those medications are sold from behind pharmacy counters and require consumers to sign logs that police can check.

Banks got his inspiration for the idea from the City Council in Washington, Mo., which passed the same legislation earlier this summer.

"Clearly we have a problem, and it appears we have a clear solution," he said at the conclusion of Tuesday's public hearing.

But his fellow executives, Pat Lamping and Ed Kemp, did not seem as enthusiastic.

Kemp said he has heard law enforcement officials, politicians and residents claim other ideas would end the county's meth epidemic, and none of those proposals has worked.

"I don't want to pass an ineffective bill," he said, noting that only nine of the county's 32 pharmacies would be affected should the county's executives pass the bill. The rest of the county's pharmacies are in cities, which are not regulated by the county.

"They'll just go to surrounding counties and buy it," Kemp said.

Lamping said he wants to see regulations added to the bill that would address contamination left behind in homes used as meth labs before the measure would get his approval.

"I've heard some compelling information tonight, but I'm not sure if that's all the information," he said. "I've had 20 or so calls in opposition to this. You have to balance the public safety aspect with an individual's right to adequate medical care, and I don't know how to do that at this point."

About two dozen people attended the hearing at the Jefferson County Administration Center, including about a dozen members of the county's Meth Action Coalition and Sheriff Oliver "Glenn" Boyer.

All spoke in favor of requiring prescriptions for pseudoephedrine purchases.

Sgt. Jason Grellner of the Franklin County Narcotics Unit also spoke during the hearing. He pushed the legislation in Washington and said he has been talking to city leaders in Sullivan, St. Clair and Union who are interested in replicating the bill.

He focused much of his presentation on how states with digital databases that track pseudoephedrine purchases are seeing meth lab totals rise, whereas Oregon, the only state to require prescriptions, has seen a steady decline.

Cindy Pharis, who is a member of the coalition, said she is tired of Jefferson County being branded as the meth capital of the world. Jefferson County narcotics officers routinely bust the most meth labs in the state, which also leads the nation.

"Our community is the leader in this problem, but we believe we have an outstanding opportunity to be the leaders in finally solving the problem," she said.