Pubdate: Thu, 03 Mar 2005
Source: Bristol Herald Courier (VA)
Copyright: 2005 Bristol Herald Courier
Contact:  http://www.bristolnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1211
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

PUT COLD PILLS OUT OF REACH TO FIGHT METH

All of the ingredients for a disaster were there.

Three people, perhaps high on drugs themselves, were trying to cook 
methamphetamine in a roadside motel bathroom, according to police. Volatile 
chemicals exploded, then a fire raced through adjoining motel rooms and 
sent a choking cloud of smoke rolling up a hill toward a nearby home.

Luckily, no one was killed. This time. The next time might be different.

If anyone still doubts that methamphetamine is a threat to our communities, 
Monday's explosion of a secret laboratory in a Smyth County motel should 
sweep away those concerns. It also should be reason enough to support tough 
new laws to fight the meth-makers.

The most promising approach is this: Locking up pseudoephedrine-containing 
cold pills -- like Sudafed -- behind pharmacist's counters. They've done it 
in Oklahoma and Oregon, and it's worked.

Since the Oklahoma law took effect last spring, the number of illegal drug 
laboratories raided by police there has fallen by 70 to 80 percent, 
according to police in that state. Oregon also reports a drop in the number 
of mom-and-pop drug laboratories.

True, the strict control of over-the-counter cold pills -- the primary 
ingredient in meth -- hasn't ended the use of the illegal super stimulant 
in those states. After all, some law enforcement officials believe only 20 
percent of the nation's meth is being cooked in these small, mobile 
laboratories. But that 20 percent is a significant danger for local 
residents -- who might be unknowingly living next door to a lab that's just 
waiting to blow -- and to police and firefighters who risk their lives 
responding when things go awry.

The explosion in Smyth County did more than $100,000 damage to the Budget 
Inn at Seven Mile Ford. A similar explosion at an illegal lab in a trailer 
in Hawkins County, Tenn., killed the meth-makers and sickened first 
responders. The stakes couldn't be higher.

Tennessee is one of a dozen or so states considering moving pseudoephedrine 
behind pharmacy counters. Would-be purchasers would have to ask the 
pharmacist for the pills and probably show identification and sign a log. 
Liquid forms of the drug, like cough syrups and children's medicines, and 
liquid-containing gel caplets would be exempted because they can't be used 
to make methamphetamine.

In Virginia, a similar bill proposed by Gate City Republican Terry Kilgore 
was killed in committee. That's too bad, although state lawmakers did 
increase the penalties for those caught making meth.

Now, an Oregon lawmaker is proposing a federal law to restrict the sale of 
pseudophedrine and to create a federal registry to monitor purchases. The 
same lawmaker wants more than $1 billion in new funds for drug treatment 
for methamphetamine users.

It might be time to take the battle to the federal level. This isn't just a 
problem of the rural Midwest or Southeast these days. And, it's going to 
take more than tough talk to stop this growing epidemic.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth