Pubdate: Sun, 10 Jul 2005 Source: Asheville Citizen-Times (NC) 507100301/1039 Copyright: 2005 Asheville Citizen-Times Contact: http://www.citizen-times.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/863 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) COSTS OF METH PLAGUE ARE GREAT ENOUGH TO WARRANT N.C. SENATE'S MEASURE Last week a N.C. House Judiciary subcommittee took up a bill to restrict the sale of over-the-counter drugs that contain pseudoephedrine. It's a decongestant that is also a main ingredient in the illegal drug methamphetamine. The state Senate passed a version of the bill that would put all tablets containing pseudoephedrine, such as Sudafed and Claritin, behind the pharmacist's counter, would require customers to show photo identification to buy them and would restrict purchases to nine grams a month without a prescription. It seems five of the seven members of the House subcommittee are leaning toward a weaker version of the Senate bill. The version they favor would affect fewer products, would allow them to be sold from behind the counter by store clerks and would limit customers to nine grams a purchase but would not limit the number of purchases a customer could make. N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper and sheriffs and district attorneys around the state support the stricter Senate version. Pharmaceutical companies and the N.C. Retail Merchants Association support a weaker alternate version. Here are some things our House lawmakers should know about meth: Meth is a highly addictive drug that leads to psychotic or violent behavior and to brain damage. It is manufactured from chemicals that are readily available. Law enforcement officers in North Carolina busted 243 meth labs in 2004, up from nine in 1999, according to U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration statistics. About two-thirds of those labs were located in Western North Carolina. Rural areas are favored because there's less chance of detecting the pungent, ammonia smell that comes from making meth. (A bust in Catawba County last week was the 203rd this year in the state, and the year is just half over.) Most of these were "mom and pop" operations, where users were making the drug for themselves and selling whatever was left to foot the bill. Children were found living on the premises where about 25 percent of these labs operated. In Buncombe County, 14 children were found in the 23 labs busted during 2004. Meth is released as it cooks, sticking to the floor and sides of walls, leading to direct exposure for children. Mary May, a guardian ad litem coordinator in Western North Carolina, told a Citizen-Times reporter that about 95 percent of the cases she sees involve meth. Most of the older children from meth cases are fidgety and have attention deficit disorder or attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, she said. They have psychotic episodes and a lot of respiratory problems. Babies and younger children often have sensory problems and don't like to be touched or held. They have trouble with loud noises and their eyes are very light-sensitive. "The kids are the saddest part of methamphetamine," May said. "We just don't know what their future will be." Dr. Cindy Brown, a forensic pediatrician and child maltreatment specialist at Mission Children's Clinic in Asheville, said she has most often seen children with burns from meth lab operations. Meth is cheap to produce. To produce a pound of the drug, the manufacturer produces five to seven pounds of toxic leftovers that require decontamination of the premises where it is produced. In other words, meth labs are hazardous waste sites that can cost up to $20,000 - with taxpayers footing the bill - to clean up. Since enacting legislation similar to the bill approved by the N.C. Senate by a 45-2 vote, Oklahoma has seen an 80 percent drop in meth production. Oklahoma's Narcotics Bureau director told North Carolina lawmakers that in his opinion, even the death penalty for making methaphetamine might not have slowed Oklahoma's meth crisis, which was one of the worst in the nation. "I'm thoroughly convinced that stiffer penalties will not curb this addiction," he said. "We came to the conclusion that as long as pseudoephedrine was readily available, there was no end in sight." If you're suffering from a nasty head cold and want quick relief, the Senate bill might pose a bit of an inconvenience for you, but gel and liquid forms of drugs containing pseudoephedrine won't be affected by the law, so relief could still be had. Given the destruction of lives, the harm to vulnerable children, the social and monetary costs to society that result from the production of methamphetamine, it's hard to understand why anyone would oppose restricting the sale of drugs containing pseudoephedrine if that would curb the epidemic. It leads one to wonder if lawmakers who oppose restricting the drug care more about potential campaign contributions from business interests or about the well-being of their constituents, especially the children whose lives are being ruined by methamphetamine. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth