Pubdate: Thu, 23 Oct 2003
Source: Joplin Globe, The (MO)
Copyright: 2003 The Joplin Globe
Contact:  http://www.joplinglobe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/859
Author: Debby Woodin

COLD MEDICINES PULLED OFF SHELVES

Retailers are locking away some common cold medicines and herbal remedies 
in response to a change in state law regulating the sale of ephedrine and a 
sting by the Jasper County Drug Task Force.

The task force is asking the county prosecutor to cite clerks at 21 retail 
stores for a misdemeanor violation of selling too much ephedrine in a 
single transaction. On Aug. 28, state law changed to limit the sale of 
ephedrine-or pseudoephedrine-containing drugs to no more than three boxes 
or three grams.

The drug is regulated because it is an essential component in the 
manufacture of methamphetamine, a homemade stimulant that law enforcement 
officers say is widespread in Southwest Missouri.

Prosecutor Dean Dankelson received the task force's reports and requests 
for charges on Wednesday and he will have to review them to determine 
whether the charges are to be filed, a spokesman in his office said.

Ephedrine or pseudoephedrine are used in some decongestant cold medicines 
like Sudafed and Actifed. It also is used in products that are marketed for 
weight loss and stamina.

The task force's sting and the regulation of ephedra has alarmed and 
frustrated people who sell or use it for legitimate purposes.

"We just pulled the products off the shelves. We will put them in a locked 
cabinet and customers will have to ask for them," said Brooke Rentfro, 
manager of Food 4 Less, 2800 E. 32nd St. She said the store management did 
not know that state law had regulated the amount of product sold to three 
packages and that it is alleged that a clerk in Friday's sting sold five 
packages.

She said the law is an inconvenience to customers who will have to contact 
a store employee to buy even a box now that the medicines have had to be 
locked up to assure compliance with the law.

Paying The Price

Some have even quit selling products containing ephedra.

"My personal choice was, when I heard that everybody was limiting their 
sales, to limit ours and we have not been selling ephedra drugs at all," 
said Mari An Willis, owner of Oak Street Health & Herbs in Carthage. 
"There's other things you can take.

"What I hate to see is the American public paying the price for a few 
people who choose to abuse or misuse products."

Her misgivings are shared by herbalists nationwide.

Moves toward not only local but federal governmental regulation of ephedra 
had stirred debate about whether the product should be regulated and, if 
so, how much.

Action by the federal Food and Drug Administration to study the health 
effects of ephedra ignited controversy among herbalists and herbal drug 
suppliers last year and this year.

The FDA contends that ephedra should be federally regulated as the result a 
study by the think-tank Rand Corp. that showed ephedra, typically used for 
weight control, energy or as a booster to physical fitness training and 
athletic performance, showed that it caused heart palpitations, blood 
pressure spikes and even strokes.

Areas of the country that, like Southwest Missouri, have experienced what 
law enforcement officers have said is nearly epidemic meth abuse also are 
in favor of regulating it.

But, groups like the American Herbalists Guild have registered their 
opposition with the FDA, saying that non-herbalists misunderstand the use 
of the whole plant versus extractions made from it that are used in the 
addictive meth.

The guild said there is "persistent confusion" about ephedra in medical 
literature and the Rand report. In an a position paper the guild sent to 
the FDA and published on it's Web site, www.americanherbalistsguild.com, 
the guild said:

"This confusion implies the crude herb (ephedra) is interchangeable with 
the ephedrine, the alkaloid, or even with commercial dietary supplements 
containing isolated ephedra alkaloids in combination with other agents, 
like caffeine."

Willis, who has been in the herbal and health-food business for 26 years, 
said ephedra has long been used with success by those who study plants and 
herbs.

"Ephedra - ma haung is it's Chinese name - has traditionally been safely 
used for many years, probably hundreds of years as a whole herb. If you 
don't probably use something correctly, of course you can be harmed by it. 
But you can misuse any food, including coffee, caffeine and sugar."

Jane Case, the owner of Good Vibrations, an herb store at 20th Street and 
Pearl Avenue, agrees. She has customers who buy it specifically to treat 
allergies. But, she said she has cautioned customers about some of the side 
effects of ephedra.

"It's not a product that I encourage," said Case, whose store was not among 
those included in the sting. "I've never sold more than one bottle of it at 
a time," she said.

Exceeding The Limits

The drug task force said in a written statement that undercover officers 
were sent to more than 50 outlets in Jasper County. Most of the 21 that 
allegedly sold an amount over the legal limit were convenience stores and 
grocery clerks.

A clerk at only one health store, Margie's Herb Shop, is among the 21.

Herb Shop owner Margie Lundien declined to talk about the sting, saying she 
wants to make a public statement, but that she first wants to meet with law 
enforcement officials.

A clerk at that store was cited for selling a product called "Magic Herb."

Willis said "Magic Herb" wholesalers have told dealers that the product 
does not apply to ephedra laws but a representative of Magic Herb, who 
would not give her name, declined to comment on whether the product is 
excluded from state law or why.

But, clerks like those at the health stores, pharmacies and grocers are 
faced with a tall order in identifying products or combinations of products 
addressed by the law, said Joe Courtright, vice president of 
pharmaceuticals for May's Drug Warehouse, based in Tulsa, Okla.

A clerk at the chain's Webb City store was one on the list of locations 
cited by the task force.

May's stores had already taken action to comply with the law, Courtright said.

"Items containing large quantities of pseudoephedrine were pulled off the 
shelves completely and put them under the counter," where customers will 
have to ask for them, he said. "The other products we have put security 
tags on.

"But with thousands of different cough and cold medicines, it's hard for a 
cashier to determine" all of them that contain the regulated drugs or, when 
bought in combination with other cold or cough products, exceed the law's 
limit.

"That's what happened in this particular case," Courtright said. The 
undercover officer bought a mix of cold and cough products, not a large 
supply of one particular item, he said.

"It's easy to police selling tobacco or alcohol to minors, that's pretty 
cut and dried. But this one is a lot more difficult because of the huge 
number of products that contain pseudoephedrine," Courtright said.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman