ANTI-METH BILLS PUT CONTROLS ON SUDAFED, OTHERS

MONTGOMERY - Sudafed and similar medicines would be kept behind store
counters in Alabama, with customers having to show identification to buy
them, under a proposal approved by legislative committees Tuesday.

Lawmakers say the changes are needed to clamp down on the manufacture of
the illegal stimulant methamphetamine.

"Law enforcement just needs some help," said Rep. Frank McDaniel,
D-Albertville, sponsor of the House version of the bill.

Under the bill, products such as Sudafed with the sole active ingredient
pseudoephedrine or ephedrine - the key component in cooking meth - would
have to be kept behind store counters or in a locked case.

Customers would have to show ID and sign a state register to purchase the
pills. Drugs with multiple active ingredients could be kept on store
shelves, but the products would have to be under video surveillance.

The proposals also would limit to two packages the pseudoephedrine or
ephedrine that could be bought at any one sale.

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved McDaniel's bill Tuesday. The House
of Representatives State Government Committee approved a similar bill. That
puts the proposal in line for final passage, although only two meeting days
remaining in the legislative session.

The Alabama Retail Association had problems with an earlier proposal that
would have put all the products containing those ingredients behind store
shelves, but it supports the version approved by committee Tuesday.

Randy Hillman, executive director of the Alabama District Attorneys'
Association, said prosecutors are being overwhelmed with meth-related crime.

"We can't concentrate on anything except violent felonies and
methamphetamine. It's a scourge unlike anything we've seen," Hillman said.