Pubdate: Fri, 15 Jul 2005
Source: Times-Picayune, The (LA)
Copyright: 2005 The Times-Picayune
Contact:  http://www.nola.com/t-p/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/848
Author: Ed Anderson, Capital bureau
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?232 (Chronic Pain)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

LAW SIGNED LIMITING COLD-TABLET SALES

Ingredient Can Be Used to Make Meth

BATON ROUGE -- Gov. Kathleen Blanco signed into law this week
legislation limiting the sale of over-the-counter cold and sinus
tablets that are used to make the illegal and highly addictive
substance crystal methamphetamine.

Effective Aug. 15, shoppers at convenience stores and pharmacies will
be restricted from buying more than three packs of nonprescription
medication containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine. Blanco aides said
Thursday the governor signed Senate Bill 24 by Sen. James David Cain,
R-Dry Creek, on Tuesday.

Cain said his bill lets stores and pharmacies sell and display
unlimited quantities of the liquid and gel capsule forms of the
medication containing the drug, since crystal meth cannot be made from
those products.

But the legislation prohibits retailers from selling more than three
packs, or nine grams, of the regular capsules or powder to a customer
in a 30-day period, since that form of the drug can be used to make
crystal meth. The bill also prohibits a store or pharmacy from
displaying more than three packs of each brand of regular cold or
sinus medication on the shelves at any time.

Watching Closely

The bill also calls for stores and pharmacies to monitor the sale of
the product closely. The shelf upon which the cold and sinus
medication is displayed must be within 30 feet of the "direct line of
sight" of a store employee, cashier or pharmacy technician, the bill
said. Stores also will be required to either install a closed-circuit
video camera to monitor the shelves where the over-the-counter drug is
displayed or have a log book for customers to sign to record the
purchase and amount received.

Customers also must present photo identification before buying the
medicine.

Employees who violate the law face a fine of as much as $500 for a
first offense and as much as $1,000 for subsequent violations.

The bill also makes it a crime for anyone to possess anhydrous
ammonia, another ingredient used to make crystal meth, that has not
been tagged by the state Liquefied Petroleum Gas Commission. Violators
could face as many as two years in jail, a maximum fine of $2,000, or
both, Cain said.

Pain Clinics

In other drug-related legislation, Blanco signed into law House Bill
749 by Rep. Nita Hutter, R-Chalmette, to regulate pain management
clinics and those who operate them.

Hutter's bill directs the state Department of Health and Hospitals to
draft rules and regulations to govern the clinics' operations.
Hutter's bill also requires the clinics to pay as much as $1,000 a
year to get a state license to operate. The bill went into effect July
1 but will not be enforced until the department issues the rules and
regulations.

The law will deny licenses to clinics owned partly or entirely by a
physician who has been barred from writing prescriptions and has had
state action taken against him or her within five years. Any clinic
owner contracting with such a physician also would be denied.

The clinics cannot be owned by anyone who has been convicted of any
felony or misdemeanor involving distributing or illegally prescribing
narcotics.

One of the points DHH must include in the rules is that a pain
management doctor can write only 30-day prescriptions unless a refill
is ordered after a pain management doctor checks the patient again.

So far, Blanco has signed 499 of the 513 bills lawmakers have sent her
from the legislative session and has not vetoed any, said Brecke
Latham, an aide to the governor. The last day for the governor to act
on any bill is Monday, but she is expected to wrap it up today before
she leaves for a four-day meeting of the National Governors
Association in Des Moines, Iowa.

More Bills

Some of the other bills Blanco has signed include:

. House Bill 509 by Rep. Warren Triche, D-Thibodaux, exempting the
traffic offenses of not wearing a seat belt or a motorcycle helmet
from inclusion on a driver's record. The purpose of the bill is to
prevent insurance companies from raising rates for the violations.

. House Bill 36 by Rep. Rick Farrar, D-Pineville, requiring insurance
companies to cover all or part of the cost of colorectal cancer
screening starting Jan. 1. The bill will allow insurance companies to
require a co-payment from the policyholder. The bill was amended at
the last minute to allow one member of the West Jefferson Levee
District, who has been employed more than eight years, to be covered
by the state's group health plan. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake