LEGISLATORS BEEF UP ANTI-METH MEASURE

Missouri lawmakers put the teeth back in an anti-methamphetamine bill on
Thursday, tightening controls on the cold medications used to make the
highly addictive drug.

The bill's sponsor is again calling it the toughest anti-meth measure of its
kind. The Senate approved it Thursday night, and it was pending in the
House.

All meth recipes call for either ephedrine - a heavily regulated, expensive
and hard-to-get drug - or a synthetic version called pseudoephedrine, which
is used in many over-the-counter cold remedies. Current state law forbids
retailers from selling more than three boxes or 9 grams of ephedrine or
pseudoephedrine products to a customer.

Last month, the Missouri House voted to reduce the number of boxes of cold
pills a customer can buy and regulate where retailers could stock the
products. But this week the state Senate passed a less restrictive version.

The negotiated bill that came out of joint legislative conference Thursday
more closely resembles the House measure. If passed, the bill would:

Forbid stores from selling more than two boxes, or 6 grams, of medication
that has ephedrine or pseudoephedrine as its sole active ingredient or
selling more than three boxes, or 9 grams, of so-called multisymptom
remedies that use ephedrine or pseudoephedrine along with other drugs.

Require shopkeepers to stock ephedrine and pseudoephedrine products within
10 feet of a cash register, store them behind a counter or tag them with
electronic sensors.

Ban the release of anhydrous ammonia, a farm fertilizer and meth ingredient,
from an unapproved container.

Any local ordinances restricting ephedrine or pseudoephedrine sales that
were adopted after Dec. 22 would be voided by the legislation. Measures in
St. Peters and St. Charles requiring the products to be kept behind store
counters would be unaffected, but a similar St. Charles County law - passed
on Dec. 23 - would be scrapped.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Robert Mayer, R-Dexter, said that the negotiated
bill "is a step in the right direction," predicting that it will pass in
both chambers.