LAW MUST CURB METH LABS

Wisconsin lawmakers are right to be concerned about the spread of
methamphetamine use in the state.

Production and use of the highly addictive drug are expanding from
neighboring Iowa and Minnesota to Wisconsin. So far, the problem has been
greatest in western Wisconsin, especially in St. Croix, Polk and Pierce
counties.

But Federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents in Green Bay said in a
U.S. Department of Justice report that 37 pounds of the drug were seized in
2004 from out-of-state people trying to create a market in the Green Bay area.

Statewide, five meth labs were seized in 1999, 26 in 2000, 45 in 2001, 79
in 2002 and 101 in 2003, the latest year for which the DEA had statistics.

Meth is a market that the Green Bay area and the rest of Northeastern
Wisconsin don't want. It's an addictive drug that causes increased heart
rate and blood pressure and can cause irreversible damage to blood vessels
in the brain, producing strokes. It also can cause respiratory problems,
irregular heartbeat and extreme anorexia. And its use can result in
cardiovascular collapse and death.

The question facing the Wisconsin Legislature is just how comprehensive
state law should be in trying to control the drug. "It's kind of a hot
topic right now," said Cindy Giese, special agent in charge of the state's
meth task force, based in the Eau Claire County community of Altoona. "I'm
trying to get everybody to work together so we can get the best legislation
possible."

That legislation is almost certain to restrict the availability of products
with pseudoephedrine, the key ingredient in meth. Brand names for
pseudoephedrine include Afrin, Cenafed, Decofed, Dorcol, Eficac/24,
Pediacare, Sinutab, Sudafed and generic equivalents, according to Medline
Plus, a Web site of the National Institutes of Health. A decongestant,
pseudoephedrine relieves stuffy nose, opens nasal airways and drains
sinuses caused by colds, allergies and hay fever.

"We don't want to cut off access to cold medicine," Scott Suder,
R-Abbotsford and chairman of the state Assembly's Criminal Justice and
Homeland Security Committee, told The Associated Press, "but we do want to
cut off the supplies of those who buy these products in bulk and use it to
kill other people by making methamphetamine."

That's the balancing act lawmakers have ahead of them: to write legislation
that gives people access to a legitimate drug while keeping it out of the
hands of people who want to use it for the wrong reasons.