Pubdate: Sat, 25 Jun 2005 Source: Statesman Journal (Salem, OR) Copyright: 2005 Statesman Journal Contact: http://www.statesmanjournal.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/427 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) WE CAN BE TOUGH ON METH WITHOUT EXTRA BURDEN Getting A Doctor's Prescription For Cold Medicine Goes Too Far The more that Oregonians learn about methamphetamine's grim effects, the more they want to get tough on people who make drugs. The trick is finding a way to do that without getting unreasonably tough on everyone else. Making some cold medications "prescription only" crosses that line. That's part of a package of anti-meth bills before the Legislature: House Bill 2485 and Senate Bill 907. The House Judiciary Committee added the controversial provision Thursday. The bills include an array of additional steps, from extra penalties for meth makers who endanger children to added support for drug courts that help former addicts stay clean. If Sudafed and similar medications are available by prescription only, it will be harder for criminals to get a key ingredient for making meth. But law-abiding Oregonians will suffer. Oregonians already have to wait in line at the store counter, show ID and sign their name to buy these cold remedies. That system has taken shape since fall, when Gov. Ted Kulongoski asked the state Board of Pharmacy to restrict sales of non-prescription decongestants containing pseudoephedrine. So far, this rule has applied only to hard pills containing pseudoephedrine. But criminals are figuring out how to extract pseudoephedrine from soft gel capsules and syrups, so the House committee decided to treat these forms of medication just the same as pills. Waiting in line to buy Sudafed is one thing; having to see your doctor for a prescription is another. One in six people in this state has no health insurance. They would be out of luck. So would insured people who fell sick after office hours. Already-burdened medical offices would have to prescribe by phone or squeeze in countless extra appointments. This seems unnecessary. Drug companies announced this week that they are reformulating their cold medications anyway. They'll replace pseudoephedrine-based remedies with phenylephrine, a decongestant that can't be reprocessed to make meth. Congress should nudge that process along by banning the sale and transport of any medications containing pseudoephedrine. In the meantime, the feds should take Oregon's law nationwide and apply it to all pseudoephedrine products, making them available to customers who sign in and show ID at stores. Oregon's current system apparently is having an effect on small-scale, local drug operations. Give it a chance to work. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin