Pubdate: Thu, 28 Apr 2005
Source: State, The (SC)
Copyright: 2005 The State
Contact:  http://www.thestate.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/426
Author: J.R. Gonzales, Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

S.C. TRIES TO STEM SPREAD OF METH

Program Targeting Production Of The Illegal Drug Will Be Launched Today

The movement to slow the spread of methamphetamine has picked up in
recent weeks locally and across the country.

Today, federal and state leaders will launch the S.C. Meth Watch
program, designed to deter the theft and illegal purchase of common
household products used to make the drug.

And S.C. legislators have joined those in 21 other states by taking up
a measure that would change the way residents buy some cold medicines.

State Rep. Joan Brady, R-Richland, has introduced a bill that would
restrict the sale of about 14 cold medicines whose main ingredient is
pseudoephedrine, a major ingredient in the production of meth.

Pseudoephedrine can be cooked to make methamphetamine, which has been
a problem for several years in the Midwest, and more recently in South
Carolina, federal statistics show. Sudafed is one example of a cold
drug whose main ingredient contains pseudoephedrine.

One part of Brady's bill bothers some consumers and one civil
liberties group.

To purchase the medication, consumers would have to show an ID and
sign a log indicating the date of purchase, the name of the purchaser
and the purchaser's address. The State Law Enforcement Division would
collect and review the logs.

The bill also would limit the sale of all drugs containing
pseudoephedrine to three packs per purchase, or a total of 9 grams of
pseudoephedrine, Brady said.

Some shoppers didn't have a problem placing the medication behind a
counter. It's the log that's left them wary.

"I don't do anything illegal, but it's just more and more like this
country's being turned into Big Brother," said Shelley Duncan, who was
shopping recently at Wal-Mart. "They want to track everything you do."

Denyse Williams, president of the S.C. affiliate of the American Civil
Liberties Union, said retailers should sell the drug in a manner
similar to cigarettes.

"This is not curing a problem," Williams said. "It's putting a
Band-Aid on a problem."

Brady said the log is a deterrent and the intrusion is understandable,
given the spread of meth.

"People who have nothing to hide, have nothing to hide," she
said.

Rufus Sadler, a Clinton pharmacist, said he doesn't object to the
bill.

"I think it wouldn't be a problem to us," Sadler said, referring to
the log. "People have to sign for every prescription they get in here.
It would make you aware of somebody trying to get large quantities of
it."

Brady learned of the issue while campaigning last year.

"This is, unfortunately, very timely in that South Carolina has not
felt this wave of meth labs that have inundated the rest of the
country," she said. "It's coming."

Meth lab raids in South Carolina increased to 116 in 2004 from four in
2000, according to the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.
Similar raids during that same period increased to 243 from 14 in
North Carolina.

By comparison, Missouri had nine times as many meth lab raids last
year as South Carolina.

The bill is now in the Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs
subcommittee. Twenty-seven other representatives have signed on to the
measure.

Brady said the chances of getting the bill into the Senate this year
are "not probable, but possible." The bill can carry into next year's
session.

Efforts to halt meth production do not stop there. Retailers this
month have implemented their own restrictions on the sale of such drugs.

Four major retailers in Columbia - Target, Wal-Mart, CVS Pharmacy and
Walgreens - have plans to move the drugs behind the counter, requiring
the help of a pharmacist to dispense the medication.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin