Pubdate: Thu, 14 Jul 2005 Source: Des Moines Register (IA) Section: Crime & Courts http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=3D/20050714/NEWS01/50= 7140373 Copyright: 2005 The Des Moines Register. Contact: http://desmoinesregister.com/index.html Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/123 Author: Jane Norman, Register Washington Bureau Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) WAL-MART 'UNBENDING' ON METH PLAN, GRASSLEY SAYS Grassley Fears Weakening Of Iowa Bill Washington, D.C. - As Congress works to crack down on methamphetamine ingredients, mammoth retailer Wal-Mart is a driving force for a national law that supersedes - and potentially weakens - tough state laws such as Iowa's, U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa said Wednesday. Iowa has a new law tightly restricting most sales of the decongestant pseudoephedrine, in an attempt to cut access to a main ingredient in the manufacture of meth, an illegal stimulant. The law requires Iowans with stuffy noses to go to pharmacies to buy decongestants that previously were over-the-counter remedies. State officials reported a drop in meth lab seizures of more than 75 percent in the first full month with the new law. But authorities have been worried that the federal Combat Meth Act pending in Congress would override Iowa's law with more lenient pseudoephedrine restrictions. The bill may be debated today at a meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which Grassley is a senior member. He told reporters in a conference call that he has withdrawn as a co-sponsor of the Combat Meth Act because of the dispute over federal pre-emption of state laws. "It would weaken Iowa's law, and I don't want to weaken Iowa's law," said Grassley, a Republican. He said he would work with other senators to improve the bill and strike that provision. If it remains, he said, he probably will oppose the bill in committee. The sponsors of the bill are Democrat Dianne Feinstein of California and Republican Jim Talent of Missouri. Grassley said they will not back down on their demand that the federal law override state laws. He said retailers who sell pseudoephedrine want uniform laws across the nation. Wal-Mart does appear to want to deal with the issue of how the product is distributed, Grassley said, but has been "unbending" on the issue of a uniform federal law. "Anybody that's dealing in a multistate area, a multistate business, it's just a lot more simple for their corporate leadership," he said. In a written statement, Bob Dufour, director of pharmacy, professional services and government relations for Wal-Mart, said that meth use is a "national crisis" and that Wal-Mart applauds states for stepping forward with laws. He said Wal-Mart favors federal pre-emption to set a national strategy and national procedures for dealing with the meth problem. A solution also "should recognize the needs of the millions of legitimate consumers while providing adequate restrictions to those who use pseudoephedrine for illicit purposes," he said. Grassley said the anti-meth bill suffers because meth is not used widely in some states and so is not seen as a major issue. "Understand that meth is mostly a problem west of the Mississippi," said Grassley. U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa and his staff members have been working with top state officials to push for revisions to the federal law, and so far have succeeded in having it include all pseudoephedrine products and allowing Iowa and other states to restrict sales to pharmacies if they so choose. But aides to Harkin, a Democrat, said Wednesday that even with the changes, the bill is not yet what Harkin would like to see enacted. [Sidebar] Iowa Law vs Proposed Federal Law SIMILAR: Iowa law requires and a proposed federal law would require consumers to show identification and have their names entered into a log before making purchases of products containing pseudoephedrine. Both limit or would limit the amount of pseudoephedrine that a person can purchase in a month. DIFFERENT: Iowa's law restricts sales of all but the lowest-dose liquid pseudoephedrine products to pharmacies. The federal plan would give states authority to grant licenses to stores without pharmacies - provided they are also approved by the U.S. attorney general. Licenses would be approved "if the attorney general determines that such registration is consistent with the public interest," according to the proposal.