COLD REMEDIES GO BEHIND COUNTER

Pharmacies Must Keep Track Of Those Who Buy Drugs That Can Be Used To
Make Crystal Meth

You're used to showing your photo ID at the airport. Now, you need
it at the corner drug store.

A federal law went into effect recently that requires customers to
flash their IDs and sign a log book when buying cold and allergy
medicines such as Sudafed, Afrin and Contac.

Used properly, the drugs relieve nasal congestion. Used illegally,
they can be "cooked" with farm and household chemicals to make
crystal methamphetamine, a highly addictive drug that is a serious
problem, particularly in the Midwest and West Coast.

The Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act requires pharmacists to keep
the drugs behind the counter and track who buys them. The logbooks
list the customer's name, address, time and date of sale, the name
of the product and how much of it was sold. Pharmacies must keep
the information for two years.

Another portion of the federal act went into effect six months ago
that limits customers to 3.5 grams a day or 9 grams in a 30-day
period. That restriction remains.

"If you are buying Sudafed, you can buy 73 tablets," said Shannon
Rivers, a pharmacist and assistant professor at the Albany College
of Pharmacy. "That's bigger than a normal package size."

And certainly enough to get through a cold, Rivers said.

Rivers said the new law isn't too burdensome on either the consumers
or pharmacists, and it has proven to decrease homemade
methamphetamine in states that adopted the restrictions earlier.

"From a consumer standpoint, the only thing I'm worried about is
that if they go into their regular pharmacy at a Wal-Mart or another
store, sometimes the pharmacy is closed when the rest of the store
is open, so you have to be more aware of pharmacy hours," she said.

The restricted medicines contain pseudoephedrine, ephedrine and
phenylpropanolamine. Some companies have reformulated their
medicines so they don't have to be stored behind the counter.