Pubdate: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 Source: Des Moines Register (IA) Copyright: 2005 The Des Moines Register. Contact: http://DesMoinesRegister.com/help/letter.html Website: http://desmoinesregister.com/index.html Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/123 Author: Lee Rood, Register Staff Writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) HOUSE PANEL TO WEIGH METH PLANS The group hopes to draft 'fact-based' policy aimed at cutting the number of toxic labs across the state. Conceding that proposals to restrict the sale of pseudoephedrine in Iowa this year are far more complicated and controversial than first thought, lawmakers in the Iowa House on Wednesday announced the formation of a bipartisan panel to further examine the issue over coming weeks. The goal of the panel, which will meet for the first time Monday, will be to draft "fact-based" policy that will significantly reduce the number of toxic, clandestine methamphetamine labs across the state. The group will operate in full view of the public and all special interests with a stake in the legislation, said Rep. Clel Baudler, a Greenfield Republican. "Anybody and everybody who has a dog in this fight is invited," said Baudler, who chairs the House Public Safety Committee. This morning, a Senate subcommittee is to hold its first hearing on Senate Study Bill 1025, a measure that would make pseudoephedrine a controlled substance. That bill, if passed, would restrict sales of cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine, a common meth ingredient, to pharmacies. Sen. Keith Kreiman, a Bloomfield Democrat, said that for now, the House and Senate subcommittees meeting on the issue would remain separate. "I feel like we've got a real good working relationship with House members," he said. "We all agree this is a very serious problem." Since Gov. Tom Vilsack announced plans to restrict pseudoephedrine sales in October, he and other state leaders have received a barrage of input on the issue - from Iowans fed up with the meth problem, to law enforcement, to retailers and pharmacists, to dozens of lobbyists representing different trade groups. While many agree something must be done to curtail meth labs - - which reached a record 1,400 last year in Iowa - there is sharp disagreement on what steps need to be taken. Baudler appointed fellow Republicans Royd Chambers of Sheldon and David Tjepkes of Gowrie to the special House subcommittee on pseudoephedrine. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the ranking Democrat on the Public Safety Committee, appointed fellow Democrat Jim Lykam of Davenport. Several key players in the meth battle on Wednesday applauded the formation of the special panel to examine the issue in depth. "That's good. Let's get it out in the open and talk about it," said Ken Carter, the head of Iowa's narcotics bureau. "I would suggest that lawmakers need to know more to understand the totality of the problem." - --- MAP posted-by: Beth