NEW RULES TO CURB METH ABUSE IN INDIANA TAKE EFFECT TODAY

Law restricts sales of cold medicines

INDIANAPOLIS -- The state is producing millions of posters, cards, shopping
bag inserts and other materials to educate Hoosiers about a law that takes
effect today restricting their purchases of some cold and allergy medicines
to combat the spread of methamphetamine use.

The Indiana Criminal Justice Institute began sending out packets of the
materials -- created by an outside firm -- to 5,000 grocery stores,
pharmacies, discount retailers and convenience stores yesterday.

"You can imagine how many questions pharmacists will get every day about
this change," said Heather Bolejack, executive director of the agency.
"These materials will answer those frequently asked questions."

The packets also include copies of a log developed by the Indiana State
Police that retailers must use to track every purchase of Sudafed, Tylenol
Cold and Flu or other products containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine.
Those are key ingredients in methamphetamine, a highly addictive drug often
produced in small rural labs.

In total, the materials could cost the state as much as $150,000, although
Bolejack said the number could change, depending on how many items are
developed and printed. The institute is using money from the State Drug Free
Communities Fund, which comes from local court fees.

"The great hope is we'll see a reduction in meth lab busts -- a cost far
more than our minimal investment in this public-service campaign," Bolejack
said.

The log, however, has been a source of some frustration among retailers,
said Joe Lackey, director of the Indiana Grocery and Convenience Store
Association.

Stores had hoped to have it in hand before now so they could train employees
to use it. But state police didn't finish the document until last week.

Steven King, director of the justice institute's drug and crime control
division, said retailers will have the packets today. Also, the log format
is available for downloading at the institute's Web site: www.in.gov/cji.

"It's unfortunate," Nikki Kincaid, the institute's deputy director,
acknowledged this week. "But we moved just as quickly as we could."

The law requires most stores to put all products containing pseudoephedrine
behind a counter or in a locked case, requiring consumers to ask for the
product and obtain it from an employee. Pharmacies can keep the products on
stores shelves, as long as they are in sight of the drugstore counter, the
counter is open and the area is under video surveillance.

Stores can sell only 3 grams -- about 100 pills -- in any transaction.
Customers are prohibited from buying more than 100 pills a week and must
show an ID and sign the log.

The restrictions -- part of more comprehensive legislation aimed at curbing
meth abuse -- became law in May.

That gave state officials only a short time to produce the tracking log,
Kincaid said. Its creation required cooperation among several agencies and
approval by the attorney general's and governor's offices, she said.

But Lackey is also concerned with the log's content. State police are
requiring that retailers record more information than called for by the law,
including the amount of pseudoephedrine in the medicines a customer is
buying. Also, customers will need to sign the log, rather than simply record
their name, under the state police protocol.

Bolejack said the final log is a compromise that incorporates concerns and
suggestions from representatives of retailers, prosecutors, police and state
officials.

Lackey said this week that few customers know the new law is at hand. Still,
he said, many stores are unlikely to use the signs, fliers and cards the
state is producing to help consumers understand the changes.

"We're constantly being come at by various agencies to put up signs about
applying for food stamps, about alcoholic beverages, that gambling can be a
problem," Lackey said. "There's not enough room for this stuff."

But Melissa Martin, president of Issues and Advocates, the Indianapolis
company hired to do the creative work, said she has been working hard with a
coalition of business leaders and state officials to produce materials that
are specific to this change and are useful and educational.

Cards have been designed to sit on shelves where cold products used to be
displayed.

"They inform the public that the medicines are still available," she said,
by directing customers to a pharmacy or retail council.

Stores also will get an initial shipment of free fliers they can stuff into
customers' bags to explain the change, she said.

"We're looking for a quick blitz of information," Martin said.