Pubdate: Sat, 10 Feb 2001
Source: Northwest Arkansas Times (AR)
Copyright: 2001 Community Publishers Inc.
Contact:  212 N. East Ave., P.O. Box 1607 Fayetteville, AR 72702
Website: http://www.nwarktimes.com
Author: Benton County Daily Record
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

CUTTING THE SOURCE

Bill Could Help Curb Meth Production

What would cause an otherwise loving parent to forget about a toddler in 
the home they live in for days? What would cause that person to go three 
days with little food or water themselves?

The answer is methamphetamine. While fecal material collects around the 
house, a child goes hungry, and the parent spends three days without 
sleeping on a continual methamphetamine roller coaster. After that, the 
parent (or parents) sleep for another three days as his or her body tries 
to compensate for the abuse of chemical happiness. If the users are lucky, 
they will have escaped without brain damage, because the cerebral 
impairment meth leaves is permanent. Rep. Jan Judy, D-Fayetteville, wants 
to curb the evil meth is inflicting in Arkansas by making one of the key 
ingredients in the cooking of meth a little harder to acquire.

Specifically, House Bill 1417 would make drugs containing pseudoephedrine a 
Schedule V drug under the Controlled Substance Act. Pseudoephedrine comes 
in the form of Sudafed and other common, off-the-shelf cold medications. 
Pseudoephedrine is a key ingredient necessary to make meth. The schedules 
are a ranking system to determine which restrictions are placed on public 
access to a drug. At the top of the list are Schedule I drugs like heroine, 
LSD, marijuana. Schedule I drugs have a "high potential for abuse" and "has 
no currently accepted medical treatment in the United States." Meth itself 
is a Schedule II drug. These drugs also have a "high potential for abuse" 
but also "has a currently accepted medical use in the United States or a 
currently accepted medical use with severe restrictions."

Besides meth, Schedule II also boasts headliners such as morphine, PCP and 
cocaine. The first advantage for making pseudoephedrine a controlled 
substance is that all production, distribution and sales of the drug must 
be recorded. Because meth requires large quantities of off-the-shelf 
pseudoephedrine, would-be meth makers would be hard pressed to discretely 
purchase this key ingredient.

The second advantage for making pseudoephedrine a Schedule V drug is that 
buyers will have to sign for the drug and show an ID. Once again, would-be 
meth makers would no longer be able to gather ingredients with relative 
anonymity. The supplier of any controlled substance, including those that 
fall under Schedule V, would be under an obligation to verify the 
authenticity of the reseller and their license to deal with controlled 
substances. The supplier is held fully responsible for any drugs that are 
shipped to a purchaser who doesn't have a valid registration. This would 
make it extremely hard for a large-scale meth maker to pose as a reseller 
and get a pseudoephedrine producer to sell him the needed ingredient.

Beyond the Schedule V restrictions, House Bill 1417 also sets the maximum 
quantity of purchase of pseudoephedrine to be limited to one 
"manufacturer's package" not to exceed 100 "dosage units" or five grams in 
a 48-hour time period.

Opponents of House Bill 1417 cite the inconvenience of having to sign for 
the drug and possible invasion of privacy.

By restricting the access to the ingredients, however, the access to the 
hell meth leaves in its wake is reduced as well.

If the bill could save even one life, or prevent one child from suffering 
the mystery of parents who are meth addicted, then it's worth every 
inconvenience.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager