ARIZ. CITY SET TO RESTRICT COLD-REMEDY SALES IN METH WAR

COTTONWOOD - Epidemic doesn't even begin to describe the large, dark shadow
that methamphetamine has left over this small Verde Valley city.

Last New Year's Eve, a motorist with meth in his system killed a Cottonwood
pastor and his two sons before careening into another vehicle and killing
that driver, police said.

Two months later, police said, an attacker, also under the influence of
meth, killed a local man by slashing his throat and critically wounded a
woman.

More than half the arrests in this city of about 10,000 involve suspects
high on meth, Police Chief Doug Bartosh said.

On Tuesday night, the City Council laid the groundwork for passage of a law
later this month that is expected to be the most restrictive in the state
regarding the sale of pseudoephedrine, commonly found in cold and flu
medicines and one of the main ingredients of meth.

Nationally, Arizona has been slower than most states to try to control the
sale of pseudoephedrine, despite having what federal law officials say is
one of the worst problems in the country.

The Cottonwood City Council read the proposed measure for the first time
Tuesday, and because it wasn't a so-called emergency measure, no action
could be taken. Nobody from the community came out in opposition of the
proposal.

On Aug. 16, the council is expected to pass the measure, which would:

Limit the total sale of pseudoephedrine and related medicinal ingredients
in tablet form to 9 total grams per person in a 30-day period.

"The 9 grams is more than enough for anyone who suffers from allergies, and
I'm one of the ones who suffers the most," Bartosh said.

Require buyers to present identification and sign a log showing the date
the product was bought and how much of the compound was requested.

Require businesses to keep their sales logs for six months and report to
police any attempts to buy more than 9 grams of the compound or any other
suspicious activity.

Require that the medication be kept in stores in areas without public
access and be sold only by pharmacists or licensed pharmacy technicians.

Cottonwood Vice Mayor Randy Lowe said Tuesday night that the council needs
to take action now. "I think it will encourage Clarkdale, Camp Verde and
Sedona to follow suit because they don't want all the meth problems on
their doorstep," Lowe said. "I believe this will take off and put pressure
on the Legislature to do what they need to do the next time around."

State Rep. Tom O'Halleran, R-Sedona, sponsored and pushed a similarly
restrictive measure through the state Legislature earlier this year. He
said he welcomes the Cottonwood council's attempt to control meth production.

"The bill that the Legislature signed off on succumbed to the power of
drug-company lobbyists," O'Halleran said.

"It will get the pseudoephedrine compounds off the shelves and put limits
on purchases, but it doesn't address how much is being bought by
individuals per month."

Cottonwood Councilwoman Diane Joens said that she, like so many others in
this city, was disappointed that the state Legislature had watered down
O'Halleran's bill.

"I think it was very important for Cottonwood to say that we need a strong
ordinance, because it's really time to stand up and say no to this drug,"
Joens said.

Phoenix officials have formed a task force made up of city, county and
state legal officials to deal with the Valley's meth problem.

The group's first priority will be to draft a city ordinance that toughens
up the laws and further restricts the sale of pseudoephedrine.

Councilman Tom Simplot said the task force will have its first meeting in
the next few weeks, and he hopes the City Council will vote on a proposal
in September.

In recent years, 40 states have placed restrictions on the sale of
pseudoephedrine, and a dozen of those states require that the compound be
sold only in pharmacies.

The restrictions do not apply to the sale of liquid cold medications
because pseudoephedrine cannot be extracted from them for illicit use in
meth labs.

Drug companies have been trying to come up with alternative chemicals for
cold medications.

Bartosh said the Cottonwood proposal is "far from an end-all to the meth
problem." But he said it's a good starting point.

"We've still got 80 percent of this stuff coming from Mexico, but we are
doing our best to deal with the domestic side of this," Bartosh said.

Lowe said it will be a big help to know that locals won't be able to go
into convenience stores and buy vast amounts of cold medication with the
meth ingredient.

"The identification thing, especially, will be a deterrent," Lowe said.
"This situation has gotten so bad here that it seems like every stop for a
traffic violation turns into a meth bust."