Pubdate: Thu, 27 Jan 2005
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Copyright: 2005 Hearst Communications Inc.
Contact:  http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388
Author: Zachary Coile, SF CHronicle Washington Bureau
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

BILL COULD STYMIE METH COOKS

Senate Proposes New Procedure For Buying Some Cold Remedies

Washington -- Cold and sinus medicines such as Sudafed would be moved 
behind the pharmacy counter under new Senate legislation proposed Wednesday 
to make it tougher for illicit drugmakers to buy pseudoephedrine, a nasal 
decongestant that is a key ingredient in producing methamphetamines.

Sponsors of the bill, including California Democratic Sen. Dianne 
Feinstein, insist the legislation would discourage meth "cooks" from 
purchasing or stealing boxes of cold medicine from pharmacies and grocery 
stores to extract the pseudoephedrine, which is used to make the highly 
toxic and addictive drug.

"The most effective thing we can do to make meth harder to manufacture is 
to put cold medicine behind the counter at pharmacies and require 
purchasers to sign for it and show photo ID," Feinstein said at a news 
conference Wednesday.

But critics say the legislation is an overreaction to the nationwide rise 
in the illegal manufacture, trafficking and use of methamphetamines, also 
known as speed, crystal, crank or ice.

Drugstore chains are warning that the legislation could lead to longer 
lines at pharmacies and additional hassle for pharmacists, who would be 
required to check IDs and keep a log of everyone who buys 
pseudoephedrine-based products to help law enforcement track drug traffickers.

Major drug companies, which have opposed similar legislation in the past, 
warn such a change would irritate consumers, who are accustomed to quick 
and easy access to cold and allergy remedies such as NyQuil, Tylenol Flu 
and Claritin-D.

"It's especially tough in rural areas, where not all pharmacies are open 
all night," said Elizabeth Assey, a spokeswoman for the Consumer Healthcare 
Products Association, the trade association that represents producers of 
over-the-counter drugs.

Under the bill, pseudoephedrine would be listed as a Schedule 5 narcotic, 
which can only be sold by a pharmacist or pharmacy technician. Stores 
without pharmacists -- including most convenience and grocery stores, as 
well as hotel and airport gift shops -- would no longer be able to sell 
many popular brands that use the nasal decongestant.

Supporters of the measure point out that Oklahoma has experienced an 80 
percent reduction in the number of meth lab seizures since the state passed 
similar legislation last year. But some meth cooks in Oklahoma are beating 
the state law by driving to nearby border states, which do not limit 
pseudoephedrine sales, authorities say.

"It's the reason that convinced me that we need a federal approach," said 
Sen. Jim Talent, R-Mo., the chief co-sponsor of the measure.

California is a major hub of methamphetamine production -- accounting for 
80 percent of the meth sold in the United States last year -- with much of 
the illegal manufacture taking place in rural counties along the Interstate 
5 corridor between Bakersfield and Redding, law enforcement authorities say.

Several states, including California, have passed laws limiting the amount 
of pseudoephedrine that can be sold a one time. California limits purchases 
to no more than three packages or nine grams of pseudoephedrine.

However, some meth cooks have responded with a tactic they call "smurfing": 
driving from store to store and buying a few boxes of medicine at a time 
until they have enough to produce a batch of the potent drug.

Lt. Marvin Harper, who oversees the major narcotics task force for 
Stanislaus, Merced and San Joaquin counties, said the Senate measure would 
not help much with the "super labs" -- major methamphetamine facilities 
that produce most of the nation's supply and require large quantities of 
ingredients. Most of those labs buy ephedrine or pseudoephedrine in bulk 
from suppliers in countries such as Canada, China and Mexico, Harper said.

But Harper said the bill could help counter the small-scale producers -- 
"we call them the Beavis and Butt-head labs" -- who brew the synthetic drug 
in their homes or cars and are more likely to use store-bought ingredients.

"What this will do is make it tougher for the low-level meth user, who is 
cooking for his own use, which is a gram or two at a time," Harper said. 
"If they can't purchase meth for whatever reason, and they can't 
manufacture their own, then you cut down the demand of the user, and you 
cut down on the trade."

Methamphetamines are powerfully addictive neurotoxins that can severely 
damage the central nervous system, leading to dangerously high body 
temperatures, cardiac arrhythmia and strokes. Even small-scale labs produce 
toxic and sometimes explosive chemical byproducts, which pollute the 
environment and pose a public health risk in many communities.

Major drug companies are urging lawmakers to consider less drastic options, 
such as limiting the number of packages of medicine with pseudoephedrine 
that consumers can buy at one time, and increasing criminal penalties for 
those caught producing and selling meth.

But Feinstein said she is simply trying to close a loophole in a previous 
law. In 1999, Congress limited purchases to no more than 9 grams of 
pseudoephedrine -- a measure fought bitterly by drug companies. But the law 
left open an exemption for medicines sold in vacuum-sealed "blister packs." 
The Drug Enforcement Agency has reported that meth cooks have exploited the 
loophole by buying the blister packs in bulk and even devising special 
machines to open them.

The new legislation would allow an exemption for communities, especially in 
rural areas without 24-hour pharmacies, to sell a limited amount of 
medicine with the decongestant over the counter, Feinstein said.

Although previous measures have stalled because of opposition from 
drugmakers, the new legislation appears to have significant bipartisan 
support. The lawmakers attending Wednesday's news conference included Sens. 
Norm Coleman, R-Minn.; Mark Dayton, D-Minn.; Charles Grassley, R-Iowa; 
Gordon Smith, R-Ore.; Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; and Ken Salazar, D-Colo.

"This is a scourge on America that we have to deal with -- and we have to 
deal with it now," Salazar said.
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