STREAM OF BILLS FILED TO BATTLE METH

Most Aimed At Cutting Supplies

Indiana lawmakers have filed at least seven bills this session aimed at
curbing illegal methamphetamine use and production.

Most of the proposals try to choke off the supply of meth's main
ingredient, dry forms of ephedrine or pseudoephedrine found in some cold
and allergy medicines.

The bills would require that those medicines be kept behind store counters
and sold only by licensed pharmacists or certified pharmacy technicians.

Most of the bills also would limit the number of pills that could be
purchased at one time and require buyers to show photo identification and
sign a log when buying the remedies.

There are also proposals to cut down on thefts of anhydrous ammonia, a
fertilizer stolen from farm tanks for use in the meth-making process. They
would offer tax credits to farmers who place locks on their tanks or use
chemical additives that make it more difficult to use the ammonia illegally.

Other legislative proposals range from requiring those convicted of crimes
involving meth to reimburse counties for the costs of keeping them in jail,
and requiring property owners to disclose whether meth was manufactured on
a property offered for sale.

Most of the bills follow recommendations made in October by a statewide
Methamphetamine Abuse Task Force that studied the issue last summer.

In December, a Courier-Journal report detailed the widening meth problem in
Indiana and Kentucky and the lack of controls on access to the drug's
ingredients in both states.

The meth task force estimated that combating the drug costs Indiana more
than $100 million per year. Figures released Friday show a spike in the
number of meth labs dismantled by Indiana law enforcement last year to
1,549, up from 1,260 in 2003.

Indiana Rep. Trent Van Haaften, D-Mount Vernon, the only legislator on the
meth task force, said: "I think the focus right now needs to be on that
access question."

He said Thursday that other task force recommendations calling for
increasing the number of drug courts in the state and boosting funding for
treatment programs have to wait.

"I think if we can limit the access, we will inherently reduce the amount
of meth that is out there," he said.

Van Haaften filed House Bill 1685, which includes most of the areas
examined by the task force.

The bill would impose uniform reporting of meth labs to the state police,
the local fire department, county health departments and the state division
of family and children, and offer the tax incentives on protection of
anhydrous ammonia.

Quantity Limit?

It also would include the access restrictions, including a requirement that
medicines containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine be sold in packages
containing no more than 12 capsules.

Rep. Eric Koch, R-Bedford, introduced House Bill 1223, which includes the
pharmacy dispensing requirement, but does not impose a limit on quantities
sold.

"I think there's general agreement there should be some higher level of
control, and what we need to sit down and talk about is how restrictive
that should be," said Koch.

He also indicated that increased funding for treatment and drug courts
might have to wait.

"Those two do have a fiscal impact and we're at a moment in time where
we're exercising fiscal restraint," he said.

Discussion of the bills has not begun. Five bills filed in the House of
Representatives have been assigned to the Courts and Criminal Code
committee, which includes Koch and Van Haaften.

Both predicted there eventually would be a single bill from the House and
Senate mixing elements from the proposals.

"I think in a couple of weeks we'll have a better idea of where we're
headed," said Koch.

The bill he wrote includes the requirement that sellers disclose whether a
meth lab has been found on a property.

"That's because ... the hazardous, toxic nature of some of the materials
used" to make meth can contaminate a property, said Koch.

"It would require that to be disclosed so that someone doesn't unknowingly
purchase a property and along with it an enormous remediation cost" to
remove the contaminants, he said.

Most Medicine Excluded

Koch emphasized that the proposed restrictions would not apply to medicines
that have liquid or gel forms of ephedrine or to remedies that do not
contain ephedrine or pseudoephedrine.

"I want to make very clear that most of these products are in a form that
will remain on the shelf, that it will not take most of these products that
consumers are used to purchasing off the shelf," said Koch.