Pubdate: Thu, 31 Mar 2005
Source: Tennessean, The (TN)
636556
Copyright: 2005 The Tennessean
Contact:  http://www.tennessean.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/447
Author: Leon Alligood
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

METH-ABUSED COLD PILLS NOW AT DRUGSTORES ONLY

Non-pharmacies can't sell ephedrines after this morning; gelcaps and liquid
forms exempt from new regulations

If you awoke with the sniffles today, don't plan on making a midmorning run
to the nearest convenience store for a supply of decongestant tablets.

Today, as of 10:30 a.m., familiar products such as Sudafed, Actifed and
hundreds of other over-the-counter cold tablets that contain ephedrine or
pseudoephedrine are available for sale in Tennessee only at drugstores.

In a move that mimics laws sweeping the nation, convenience stores, country
stores, even health-food stores in Tennessee are prohibited from selling
products that contain either of the two ingredients.

And in 30 days, even when you go to the drugstore to buy the cold pill
you've been taking for decades, you will have to show a photo ID and give
your name and address to the pharmacist, which will be kept on file in a
log.

Why all the fuss? Ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, while stopping your runny
nose, also can be used to produce methamphetamine, a dangerous-to-make and
highly addictive stimulant that is now the illicit drug of choice in many
areas of the state. (Gelcaps and liquid forms of the same medicines will
remain legal on store shelves - only the tablet form of the drugs can be
converted to "meth.")

You can't run down to your local convenience store or to a grocery store
that doesn't have a pharmacy to buy this product. That's just a trade-off,
said Russell Palk, president of the Tennessee Retail Federation, a trade
group that includes many chain drugstores.

Stores such as Joelton's Valu-Plus, at 7111 Whites Creek Pike, complied with
the new law yesterday by pulling their packs of pills off the shelves. Major
convenience store chains, such as Pilot and Exxon Tigermarkets, already had
stored their medicines in anticipation of the new rules, representatives for
those companies said.

Gov. Phil Bredesen's strategy is simple: Interrupt the flow of the necessary
ingredients and interrupt the production of meth.

The simple fact is, if you don't get the ephedrine or the pseudoephedrine,
you are not going to make methamphetamine. You got to have one or the
other," said District Attorney General Michael Taylor, who prosecutes
criminal cases in the southern counties of the Cumberland Plateau, where
meth was believed to have been introduced in Tennessee about a decade ago.

"Meth" has reached epidemic proportions in the eastern parts of the state
and on the plateau. It is blamed for ruining lives, killing people with
overdoses, spurring homicides, making houses explode, and sending hundreds
of children into foster care because their addicted parents can't care for
them.

Unlike other drugs that are grown or smuggled into this area, meth is
"cooked" in homemade "labs" using often-volatile mixtures of household
chemicals, such as cleaners, solvents, lye soap, brake fluid and other
substances the average person has in the garage or under the sink. Cooking
meth is a dangerous chemistry experiment intended to extract the ephedrine
from cold medicine and change its chemical nature to crystal
methamphetamine.

The new rules on cold medications, Taylor said, are long overdue, and are
"going to go a long way toward cutting down on meth lab production. To me,
that's the key element."

Tennessee is hoping to replicate the success of Oklahoma, which enacted
similar legislation last year and realized an almost immediate reduction in
meth activity. In Oklahoma City, police seized 175 meth labs in 2003,
averaging 14.5 per month. Since the new law was signed last April, police
have averaged five per month.

In Tulsa, the number of meth labs discovered last year by police was cut by
nearly half.

Statewide, 43% of Oklahoma's meth lab seizures in 2004 occurred in the first
three months of the year, before sale of the over-the-counter drugs in that
state were limited to pharmacies.

"Taking that ephedrine off the shelf is one of the most important things we
can do," said Criminal Court Judge Lillie Ann Sells, of Cookeville, who was
among those to see Bredesen sign the new laws that took effect yesterday.
"We must make it harder for them to get what they need to make the stuff. I
think this is going to make a huge difference," she said.

As a prosecutor, Taylor said, he plans to meet with sheriffs and police
chiefs in his district to make sure that officers are keeping tabs on the
issue. He said he didn't expect any hesitation, because local law
enforcement officers spend so much of their time investigating meth labs and
meth-related crimes such as burglary.

"Everyone is ready to see this tail off," he said.
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