INJURED WNC FIREFIGHTER TOUTS BILL TO DISCOURAGE METH-MAKING

RALEIGH -- The thrill of rushing into a burning building to save lives
fueled Darien South's boyhood dreams.

But that thrill ended in January 2003 when the Watauga County volunteer
firefighter nearly died while containing a fire in a methamphetamine lab.
The toxic fumes asphyxiated South twice.

He lost half of his lung capacity from being exposed to the drug's fumes.
South, now 32, takes 10 to 12 medications a day to keep his oxygen levels up.

South shared his story at a state Senate panel Tuesday. He urged lawmakers
to pass pending legislation that would restrict how certain forms of cold
remedies containing ephedrine and pseudoephedrine are sold. In tablet form,
these are the key ingredients to producing methamphetamine.

"If you could feel the blood come out of your lungs (as a result of toxic
exposure to meth fumes), you'd pass this bill," said South. "If you had to
go to bed every night and hook up to an oxygen tank so you wouldn't stop
breathing, you'd pass this bill."

No action was taken in the Senate committee, which is expected to hear more
testimony next week.

The meth problem is mushrooming in North Carolina. There were nine meth
labs in 1999 and in 2004 there were 322. State Attorney General Roy Cooper
said he expects to find more than 500 meth labs this year.

"Pseudoephedrine is one molecule away from meth," Cooper told the Senate
panel. "We go into an aisle, see pseudoephedrine and think cold medicine.
Criminals see it and think meth."

Based on similar laws in Oklahoma to curb meth sale and use, the proposed
legislation requires consumers to buy tablet forms of remedies such as
Sudafed, Pediacare and possibly Claritin from a pharmacist. Gel caps and
liquid forms could still be sold over-the-counter.

To buy tablet forms of the drugs, customers would have to show photo
identification and sign for the medication. Their name and address would
then be entered in the pharmacy's sales records. Purchases of more than 9
grams within a month would require a prescription.

It also would stiffen penalties for people who make meth in apartments,
hotels and motels, where there is a high risk of exposure to many people at
once.

Oklahoma has witnessed a dramatic decline in its number of meth lab busts.
It was among the top meth producing states in the country before the
legislation was enacted a year ago. As of March, there were 10 meth lab
drug busts in the state.

"Most of the time, when people make this stuff in their own homes children
are present," Lonnie Wright, director of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics,
told the Senate committee. "About 49 percent of the laboratories have
children in it. Of those children, 89 percent tested positive for meth."

Legislation pending in Arkansas, Missouri and Kansas will soon become law.
Texas is also poised to pass similar legislation.

"I'm thoroughly convinced that stiffer penalties will not curb this
addiction (to meth)," Wright said. "Even if you made it punishable by the
death penalty, it would not deter them. We came to the conclusion that as
long as pseudoephedrine was readily available, there was no end in sight."

But in many counties, especially rural ones, it may be difficult for people
to get to a pharmacy.

Very few counties, even large ones, have more than one 24-hour pharmacy,
said Fran Preston, president of the N.C. Retail Merchants Association, a
trade lobby for grocery and convenience stores.

"We know there's a problem (with meth)," Preston said. "It makes no
difference if it's a grocery counter or a pharmacist counter. We're saying
let it be (accessible) behind a controlled counter."

But bill supporters argue that the cost of the drug's addiction on families
and communities outweigh the inconvenience of buying the tablets from a
pharmacist.

"Kids who live in homes where methamphetamine is made have dreams too,"
South said. "But if somebody sells them this drug or they get hooked on
this drug, those dreams will be cut short. And that's a shame."