Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel spoke to several county officials and a host of others Tuesday at the Clark County Fairgrounds about the issues he has taken on as a consumer advocate; cutting down the production of methamphetamine in the state, and the state’s revenue stabilization structure.
McDaniel said he and other attorneys, including Arkadelphia’s Todd Turner, last year succeeded in getting rid of payday lenders that charged 700-800 percent interest on small loans.
“Todd came to me two years ago with the case,” he said. “I saw what he’d done, and I admire what he’d done.”
After winning the battle against the lenders in the State Supreme Court, McDaniel noted that “we’ve taken hundreds of payday lenders down,” and are now “putting the finishing touches on a lawsuit against one company. This wouldn’t have happened if not for Todd.”
While campaigning for office, McDaniel vowed to make it tough on sexual predators and meth makers, “and I’m proud to say we’ve done that,” he said, noting that meth lab production in the state has been cut in half by putting pseudoephedrine — the cold medication which is the main ingredient in the production of meth — behind the counter at pharmacies.
While it made it tougher on meth makers, they still managed to get their hands on the chemical by “pharmacy hopping,” but McDaniel said his office managed to get legislation passed for pseudoephedrine buyers to swipe their driver’s license every time they buy cold medication.
“We’re going to cut meth labs to bare bones in Arkansas, and we’re not done,” he said. “We’re going to make meth a thing of the past.”
As for the state’s budget, “Most states envy us because of our revenue stabilization structure.”
