LIMITS ON COLD MEDICINE OK'D

Compromise Bill Sent To Governor

BATON ROUGE -- Stores and pharmacies should be barred from selling
more than three packs at a time of any powdered sinus or cold
medication that contains ephedrine, a substance used in making the
highly addictive crystal methamphetamine, lawmakers agreed Thursday.

The Senate voted 30-0 for a compromise version of Senate Bill 24 by
Sen. James David Cain, R-Dry Creek, and the House went along with it, 98-5.

Attachment: http://www.mapinc.org/temp/spacer.gif Cain's bill now
goes to Gov. Kathleen Blanco, who can sign it into law, let it become
law without her name on it or veto it.

If approved, the new restrictions would go into effect Aug. 15.

Cain said the bill does not apply to gel caps or liquid forms of
ephedrine, pseudoephedrine or phenlypropanolamine, because those
forms cannot be used to make crystal methamphetamine.

The bill was thrown into a six-member conference committee to work
out differences between the House and Senate.

The House gutted Cain's bill and tacked on a rival bill by Rep. Eric
LaFleur, D-Ville Platte, which spelled out penalties for violating
the three-pack sale limit, but the compromise committee basically
restored the major portions of Cain's measure.

"We think this is a good compromise," Cain said.

Besides limiting the sale of ephedrine-based medication, the final
version of the bill:

- -- Requires a store or pharmacy to monitor and record the sales of
those medications by a closed-circuit security camera or a log to be
maintained by the seller. It also requires that a photo ID be
presented by the buyer to obtain the drugs.

- -- Prohibits a store or pharmacy from displaying more than three
packages of each brand of cold or sinus medicine containing powdered
ephedrine or similar drugs at any one time.

- -- Requires that the counter area where the cold and sinus
medications are sold be within 30 feet of "the direct line of sight"
of a counter or cash register staffed by an employee.

The conference committee added language to allow authorities to
obtain the surveillance tapes or logs based on the issuance of search warrants.

It also requires that the written or electronic logs be kept for at
least 15 days.

Store employees who violate the law can face a fine of as much as
$500, six months in jail or both.

LaFleur said the bill still requires someone who buys one pack of
powdered sinus or cold medication containing the drug to sign a log
but that it is not as onerous as the original Senate bill.

"This can make a person who buys one pack (of cold medication) a
person of interest" in a possible drug case, said Rep. Shirley
Bowler, R-Harahan.

Cain's bill also makes it a crime to illegally possess anhydrous
ammonia, frequently stolen from farmers and used to make the crystal meth.

Violators could face as many as two years in jail, a fine of as much
as $2,000 or both.

ROLL CALL

How New Orleans area House members voted on Senate Bill 24 to place
new restrictions on the sale of common cold remedies that authorities
say are bought in large quantities to make methamphetamines:

YES: Alario, D-Westwego; Ansardi, D-Kenner; Arnold, D-Algiers; Badon,
D-New Orleans; Bruneau, R-New Orleans; Burns, R-Mandeville; Carter,
D-New Orleans; Crowe, R-Slidell; Damico, D-Marrero; Faucheux,
D-LaPlace; Gray, D-New Orleans; Heaton, D-New Orleans; Hutter,
R-Chalmette; Jefferson-Bullock, D-New Orleans; LaBruzzo, R-Metairie;
LaFonta, D-New Orleans; Marchand, D-New Orleans; Martiny, R-Kenner;
Odinet, D-Arabi; Pitre, R-Cut Off; Powell, R-Ponchatoula; Quezaire,
D-Donaldsonville; Richmond, D-New Orleans; Ritchie, D-Franklinton;
Scalise, R-Jefferson; Schneider, R-Slidell; Smith, D-Norco; Strain,
R-Covington; Toomy, R-Gretna; Tucker, R-Algiers; Winston, R-Covington

NO: Bowler, R-Harahan; Lancaster, R-Metairie; Morrell, D-New Orleans;
Wooton, D-Belle Chasse