SENATE PANEL APPROVES ANTI-METH BILL IT LIMITS ACCESS TO COLD DRUGS

A state senator scolded some of his colleagues Thursday as they tried to
chip away at the provisions of a bill that would restrict sales of some
cold medicines used to make a highly addictive illegal drug. The committee
ultimately approved the bill and sent it to the Senate floor on a voice
vote. Before that vote, however, some senators complained that cold tablets
wouldn't be available at grocery stores and other outlets without a
pharmacist, spoiling the chances of a late night medicine run for a
runny-nosed child. Others worried about the inconvenience of having to show
a photo ID to obtain the medicine.

"It makes me kind of ill to hear some of the arguments I'm hearing here
this morning," Sen. John Snow said, rising from his seat at the end of the
committee's conference table. "We're looking at a serious, serious problem."

Snow, a Democrat from Cherokee County and a former District Court judge,
said he spoke with a guardian ad litem coordinator in his district Thursday
who told him that she had 15 children in her care who had been born with
highly addictive methamphetamine in their blood. They can't stand to be
touched and shy away from light, Snow said.

"It's just a question or not of whether we want to protect our kids," he
said. "I think this is a good bill. I think it's the least we ought to do."

Attorney General Roy Cooper has pushed the legislation as a way to help the
state deal with its blossoming methamphetamine production. The number of
clandestine drug labs busted by law enforcement has soared over the past
five years from nine a year to 322 in 2004. Cooper has said the state is
projected to break up between 500 and 700 labs this year.

The bill approved Thursday differs slightly from the original, mainly
because it doesn't require distribution centers to restrict access to cold
medicines that contain ephedrine or pseudoephedrine.

Meth manufacturers can easily cook the tablets to distill those ingredients
and mix the result with other common items to produce the drug.

The North Carolina bill is modeled after an Oklahoma law. It would also
limit the number of cold tablets consumers could purchase in a month to
roughly 12 packs for medicines such as Sudafed.

At least six states have approved similar sales restrictions and about 20
more are considering them, according to information presented to the committee.