CUTTING THE SOURCE

Bill Could Help Curb Meth Production

What would cause an otherwise loving parent to forget about a toddler in
the home they live in for days? What would cause that person to go three
days with little food or water themselves?

The answer is methamphetamine. While fecal material collects around the
house, a child goes hungry, and the parent spends three days without
sleeping on a continual methamphetamine roller coaster. After that, the
parent (or parents) sleep for another three days as his or her body tries
to compensate for the abuse of chemical happiness. If the users are lucky,
they will have escaped without brain damage, because the cerebral
impairment meth leaves is permanent. Rep. Jan Judy, D-Fayetteville, wants
to curb the evil meth is inflicting in Arkansas by making one of the key
ingredients in the cooking of meth a little harder to acquire.

Specifically, House Bill 1417 would make drugs containing pseudoephedrine a
Schedule V drug under the Controlled Substance Act. Pseudoephedrine comes
in the form of Sudafed and other common, off-the-shelf cold medications.
Pseudoephedrine is a key ingredient necessary to make meth. The schedules
are a ranking system to determine which restrictions are placed on public
access to a drug. At the top of the list are Schedule I drugs like heroine,
LSD, marijuana. Schedule I drugs have a "high potential for abuse" and "has
no currently accepted medical treatment in the United States." Meth itself
is a Schedule II drug. These drugs also have a "high potential for abuse"
but also "has a currently accepted medical use in the United States or a
currently accepted medical use with severe restrictions."

Besides meth, Schedule II also boasts headliners such as morphine, PCP and
cocaine. The first advantage for making pseudoephedrine a controlled
substance is that all production, distribution and sales of the drug must
be recorded. Because meth requires large quantities of off-the-shelf
pseudoephedrine, would-be meth makers would be hard pressed to discretely
purchase this key ingredient.

The second advantage for making pseudoephedrine a Schedule V drug is that
buyers will have to sign for the drug and show an ID. Once again, would-be
meth makers would no longer be able to gather ingredients with relative
anonymity. The supplier of any controlled substance, including those that
fall under Schedule V, would be under an obligation to verify the
authenticity of the reseller and their license to deal with controlled
substances. The supplier is held fully responsible for any drugs that are
shipped to a purchaser who doesn't have a valid registration. This would
make it extremely hard for a large-scale meth maker to pose as a reseller
and get a pseudoephedrine producer to sell him the needed ingredient.

Beyond the Schedule V restrictions, House Bill 1417 also sets the maximum
quantity of purchase of pseudoephedrine to be limited to one
"manufacturer's package" not to exceed 100 "dosage units" or five grams in
a 48-hour time period.

Opponents of House Bill 1417 cite the inconvenience of having to sign for
the drug and possible invasion of privacy.

By restricting the access to the ingredients, however, the access to the
hell meth leaves in its wake is reduced as well.

If the bill could save even one life, or prevent one child from suffering
the mystery of parents who are meth addicted, then it's worth every
inconvenience.