PROPOSAL TO CURB MAKING OF METH HITS SNAG IN ROAD

A key element of a legislative proposal to curb the manufacturing of
methamphetamine by moving stocks of popular nonprescription cold remedies
behind pharmacists' counters faces opposition from some quarters of the
pharmaceutical industry.

Sen. Julie Rosen, R-Fairmont, said Wednesday that when Oklahoma recently
reclassified pseudoephedrine, an important ingredient in the illegal
stimulant, as a Schedule V controlled substance, it saw an almost immediate
70 percent drop in the number of meth labs seized.

"Oklahoma has also seen a declining supply of that higher-purity, homemade
meth and is beginning to see some reduction in meth use overall," she said.
Minnesota and 22 other states are moving to follow Oklahoma's lead, she added.

But the 1,800-member Minnesota Pharmacists Association said that while it
supports most efforts to curb meth abuse, the behind-the-counter proposal
is "problematic for pharmacists."

Under legislation sponsored by Rosen and Rep. Jeff Johnson, R-Plymouth,
pharmacists would have to store more than 300 products containing
pseudoephedrine behind their counters, sell them only to people 18 and
older and log all purchases.

"It puts us in a position of being police," said Julie K. Johnson,
executive vice president and CEO of the association. "Workable restrictions
on precursor products used in illegal manufacture of methamphetamine can be
done effectively without imposing Schedule V."

Schedule V is a category of federal drug law that once covered a handful of
nonprescription remedies. No drugs are currently classified as Schedule V
in Minnesota.

The industry group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America has
taken no position on the Schedule V issue, said its Minnesota lobbyist,
Linda Carroll-Shern.

She added, however, that the drug firms Pfizer Inc. and Johnson & Johnson,
makers of popular pseudoephedrine-based medications, have stepped into the
fray. Lobbyists for those firms did not return a reporter's calls on Wednesday.

Julie Johnson said the pharmacists' group supports "workable restrictions"
on the sale of meth ingredients, including placing products that contain
only pseudoephedrine behind counters. It also backs limits on the amounts
of the drug that can be sold and especially a statewide standard instead of
a growing patchwork of local ordinances.

"Our members are concerned about meth," she said. "Many of them are already
restricting sales and locking up their precursor stocks."

The association, however, opposes age limits on sales of pseudoephedrine
and any requirement to log or track sales. Julie Johnson said that the
Oklahoma law on which the Minnesota bill is modeled has been on the books
too short a time to judge its effect.

Lawmakers Rosen and Johnson offered their bill at the kickoff of a second
annual Meth Awareness Day at the Capitol, where private and government
groups presented the problems of meth abuse and proposed solutions.

In addition to the Schedule V provision, the Rosen-Johnson measure would
increase penalties for meth manufacturing when children are present, assist
meth lab cleanup, assign 10 new state crime investigators to meth cases and
develop new addict treatment strategies and school-based meth awareness and
education programs.