BUYING COLD PILLS FILL OUT THIS FORM

Riverside County Sets The Bar Higher In The War Against Ingredients For
Methamphetamine.

Consumers who buy popular cold remedies in Riverside County would be
required to give their names, addresses, and telephone and driver's
license numbers to store clerks for law enforcement inspection under a
sweeping rule aimed at illicit production of methamphetamine.

The ordinance, unanimously approved Tuesday by the Board of
Supervisors, will take effect if given final approval in the next 30
days.

The law would be the toughest of its kind in California. It comes as
both Congress and the state Legislature are considering bills that
would restrict the sale of medications, such as Sudafed and Nyquil,
that contain the drug pseudoephedrine. It is among the ingredients
used in makeshift laboratories to create methamphetamine.

Critics of the proposals say they would inconvenience law-abiding
customers - and pose a threat to privacy - and might have only a
minimal effect on the illicit drug traffic.

But in Riverside County, considered a major center of meth traffic,
supporters said the measure was needed to stem a growing and often
deadly drug problem.

"It's so important to let the residents know that we care about the
meth problem, and we're going to do something about it," said
Supervisor Jeff Stone, who sponsored the ordinance. "Anytime,
anywhere, we are going to be proactive. That's the message that we
want to get out."

Under the ordinance, customers who buy even one package of cold
medication that includes pseudoephedrine, phenylpropanolamine or
related compounds would be required to provide the personal
information to a store clerk. Stores would be required to keep the
logs available for law enforcement officials for three years.

Retailers who fail to comply with the requirements could face fines of
up to $1,000. The ordinance would not penalize customers.

The measure drew quick criticism from some pharmacists.

"Imagine you're in line and you're sick and getting antibiotics and
you have to wait behind three people who have to fill out a stupid
log," said Doug Sturtz, the pharmacist at a Longs Drugs in Riverside.

"Can you imagine what's going to happen at Costco? Can you just
imagine the lines?" Sturtz added.

Others objected to the potential impact on customer privacy and raised
questions about the law's effectiveness, noting that major meth
traffickers did not get their ingredients from drug stores and that
buyers could easily purchase the same items in neighboring counties.

"I think there are real privacy issues about putting additional
burdens on people who purchase over-the-counter drugs," said USC law
professor Charles Whitebread.

"That's my privacy," said Diane Greagor, 46, a Riverside resident who
works for the state Department of Corrections, as she walked out of a
Walgreens drug store near downtown Riverside. "I don't know what
they're going to be using this information for," she added. "It's not
an illegal drug."

But U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who has been pushing
measures in Congress to restrict sales of cold medicines that include
pseudoephedrine, expressed support.

"I say hurray for Riverside," Feinstein said in Washington.

Feinstein and Sen. Jim Talent (R-Mo.) unveiled an anti-meth bill
Tuesday that would restrict access to such cold medicines nationwide.

Although she praised the Riverside County measure, Feinstein's bill,
which is supported by the National Assn. of Chain Drug Stores, would
preempt all such local rules in favor of national standards and would
not be as burdensome on consumers.

Feinstein's proposal would require retailers and drug stores to place
cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine behind the pharmacy counter.
It would create alternative procedures for stores without pharmacies
that sell over-the-counter remedies. It would also limit those buying
such drugs to 7.5 grams a month. That is roughly equivalent to eight
packets of 32 decongestant pills, rather than the one packet covered
by the Riverside County ordinance.

Several major retailers, including Target, Wal-Mart and Ralphs, have
voluntarily placed cold medications with pseudoephedrine behind the
counter.

A spokesman for Kroger Co., which owns Ralphs and Food 4 Less, said
company officials had not yet had a chance to review the Riverside
County ordinance but that the company hoped the steps it already was
taking would be sufficient to deter abuse.

"We're putting all our products with pseudoephedrine behind the
pharmacy counter," said spokesman Terry O'Neil. "In those stores where
there is no pharmacy, we plan to take these products off the shelf and
put them in cases similar to what stores do with cigarettes."

Methamphetamine is a cheap and powerfully addictive stimulant that is
easily manufactured in clandestine laboratories with ingredients that
are inexpensive and readily available.

Research shows that the drug can cause serious health and behavior
problems, including memory loss, violence, psychotic behavior and
possibly neurological damage.

Methamphetamine also suppresses sexual inhibitions, and health
officials have said it is a major factor in an increase in sexually
transmitted diseases, including hepatitis and HIV/AIDS.

Dr. Jonathan Fielding, Los Angeles County's public health director,
said he was intrigued by Riverside County's idea but said it would
take time to see how well it works.

"It's innovative. But I don't think we know at this point what's going
to be effective," he said.

"Trying to limit the availability to legitimate users is a reasonable
approach, even though it restricts personal freedoms to some extent,"
he said.

Assemblyman Paul Koretz (D-West Hollywood) introduced a bill in the
Legislature this year that would have required logging similar
information on buyers of cold medications.

Koretz said he dropped the logging provision after it drew concerns
from other legislators who worried it would infringe on privacy and
that maintaining it would require creating a state database.

"For me, it wasn't a big issue," he said, adding that he thought
logging could create a significant deterrent.

"The big factor with meth users is a high degree of paranoia," he
said. "If they know you're keeping their name and address and other
information . it would make it a lot harder for them to make the purchases."

- - Times staff writers Susannah Rosenblatt in Riverside and Maura
Reynolds in Washington contributed to this report.