MAKE COLD PILLS HARDER TO GET, OFFICIALS URGE

Cedar Rapids, Ia. - The companies whose over-the-counter medicines are used
to make methamphetamine should do more to curb the illegal use of their
products, several Iowa law enforcement and health officials say.

Meth "cooks" use pseudoephedrine, a decongestant found in everything from
Sudafed to Advil Cold and Sinus, to make the illegal stimulant. Federal
Drug Enforcement Administration agent Rick LaMere suspects the meth
epidemic is good business for makers of those legal drugs.

"There are people whose hands are clean who are making millions off these
addicts," said LaMere, who is based in Cedar Rapids. "Something needs to
change."

LaMere and others are frustrated by a perceived reluctance by drug
companies and retailers to aggressively clamp down on over-the-counter drugs.

"If I could snap my fingers, I would say anything with ephedrine isn't sold
over the counter," said Charles Hallberg, a Cedar Rapids attorney who has
defended many meth-addicted clients in criminal cases. "But there are
millions or billions in profits, and the drug companies aren't going to let
that happen."

An organization representing many of the companies said that profits have
not jumped in connection with the meth epidemic. Shoplifting is a common
problem with these medicines, said Nancy Bukar, director of government
affairs for the Consumer Healthcare Products Association.

Cold and cough medicines - regardless of whether they contained
pseudoephedrine - accounted for $3.01 billion in over-the-counter drug
sales in 2002, according to the association's figures from reporting
companies. That's down from 2001, when the sales reached $3.07 billion.

Laws that restrict sales aren't any better than voluntary programs, Bukar
said. A better solution is reducing meth demand by focusing on education
and treatment, she said.

Drug companies have contributed $450,000 this year for a new Consumer
Healthcare Products Association campaign warning teens and parents about meth.

If the restrictive laws are in place, Bukar said, "you can still sell the
product, but I think it's a burden on retailers and consumers without any
proven effect."

East Coast DEA agents say they work with the drug industry on voluntary
programs designed to curb illegal manufacturing of meth and also try to
educate them on the law.

"They may not import, distribute and sell this with the knowledge that it's
going to be used to make illicit drugs," said Scott Collier, chief of the
DEA's chemical control section.

The agency has recently cracked down on the flow of pseudoephedrine from
Canada. China is likely to be the next source targeted, officials said.

Congress in 1996 passed the Methamphetamine Control Act, requiring
retailers to keep records and report on anyone buying a certain amount of
pseudoephedrine. To avoid paperwork, many retailers set their own limits on
the number of packages that can be purchased at a time. Some have cash
registers programmed to notify clerks when the limit is passed.

Seven states have laws limiting sales of products containing
pseudoephedrine. Missouri also restricts displays. Rep. Clel Baudler, a
Republican from Greenfield, wants Iowa to impose sales restrictions.

Gene Lutz, an Altoona-based pharmacist who will become president of the
American Pharmacists Association in March, supports regulation, perhaps
allowing products to be sold only in stores with pharmacists. Such a step
would exclude most convenience stores.

Law enforcement officials in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Waterloo have
charged convenience store owners or clerks with improperly selling
pseudoephedrine that the workers knew would be used to make meth.

The federal law requiring stores to get information about customers who buy
more than 9 grams - or 366 30-milligram pills - does not apply to medicine
packaged in the so-called blister packs, in which tablets are individually
sealed in plastic and foil.

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, with Iowa Sens. Grassley and Tom
Harkin as co-sponsors, proposed requiring personal information to be
recorded when large amounts of pseudoephedrine-containing cold medicine are
sold in blister packs.

Others say the companies shouldn't be punished when legitimate products are
used illegally.

"You're asking about a company that has a product with a useful, legal
purpose being used for an illegal purpose, and I'm not sure you can blame
them any more than you can blame car companies for accidents," Grassley said.

Iowa law enforcement officials estimate that the number of meth labs might
be cut in half if pseudoephedrine were more difficult to obtain. Last year,
1,009 meth labs were seized or cleaned up in Iowa.

Dean Salsberry, with the Southeast Iowa Narcotics Task Force in Burlington,
said that while the companies shouldn't be blamed for the epidemic, recent
changes raise questions.

"The timing is suspicious that all of a sudden they are manufacturing pills
that are about four times the potency that they used to be," Salsberry said.

Pseudoephedrine used to be available over the counter in 30-milligram
tablets. Tablets with 120 milligrams are now routinely sold over the
counter. The stronger pills are designed to release the medicine over time,
so a person doesn't have to take as many lower-strength tablets in a day,
said Lorna Totman, senior director of scientific affairs for the Consumer
Healthcare Products Association.

Lutz, the Altoona pharmacist, doesn't believe the larger doses are tied to
an attempt by drug companies to make money off the epidemic. He also doubts
that recent price increases are related.

The Food and Drug Administration "removed from over-the-counter another
major decongestant, phenylpropanolamine, so the only decongestant left was
pseudoephedrine," Lutz said. Consequently, he said, "prices probably
started to climb when they changed all those products that had
phenylpropanolamine."

The FDA asked drug companies to remove phenylpropanolamine from products
because of evidence that it may cause strokes. Ephedrine, related to
pseudoephedrine, is being examined for the possibility that it can cause
strokes or heart problems.

Stores have their own incentive to keep an eye on the medication,
particularly if shoplifting becomes a problem.

"It's a high-cost product, and stores watch it closely," said Jerry
Fleagle, president of the Iowa Grocery Industry Association. If stores
begin missing a product, "they know they've got a problem and usually take
measures to rectify that."