LAW ENFORCEMENT CALLS JUDY'S PLAN GOOD IDEA

State Representative Says Arkansas Can Be First To Control Meth Ingredients

A box of Sudafed, which contains the ingredient pseudoephedrine, sits
on a shelf in USA Drug on North Walton Boulevard in Bentonville.

The police chief and prosecuting attorney here say proposed
legislation removing from store shelves medications that contain
methamphetamine-making ingredients is a good idea.

Rep. Jan Judy, D-Fayetteville, wants to pass a state law removing all
medications containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine from store
shelves. She says Arkansas would be the first state in the region to
have such a law.

Judy will introduce such a bill in the Arkansas House of
Representatives this session to classify certain over-the-counter
cold medications as controlled substances.

Bentonville Police Chief James Allen calls the proposed bill necessary.

"We need to try anything, because methamphetamine is a huge problem,"
he said. "It's becoming an epidemic."

Allen said that his department has a good relationship with most
local merchants.

"If a local merchant witnesses suspicious activity, they usually will
contact us," he said.

Ephedrine and pseudoephedrine are common ingredients used in making
methamphetamine, an illegal drug. In fact, Judy said, they are the
only ingredients needed in all forms of meth.

If her proposal is passed, medications containing these ingredients
will be dispensed only through pharmacists.

"There will be limits on the number of packages that can be purchased
in a 48-hour time period, but those limits have not yet been
determined," Judy said.

Consumers would not need a prescription to obtain the medication but
they would have to be at least 17 years old, show identification and
sign for the products.

This way, all purchases could be monitored, and stores would report
frequent or suspicious buyers to police.

Benton County Prosecuting Attorney Bob Balfe agrees with Allen.

"I think that the proposal would be a step in the right direction,
but all states would have to form similar laws," Balfe said.

Balfe believes that methamphetamine is such a unique drug because it
does not have any imported substances, it can be ingested in many
different forms, and all of the ingredients are legal.

Meth is becoming such a popular drug in the United States because it
is cheap and easy to make, and a methamphetamine high can last
anywhere from eight to 24 hours, as opposed to a cocaine high that
lasts 20 to 30 minutes, according to the National Institute on Drug
Abuse.

"If there isn't consistency among states laws, people will just go to
Oklahoma to get the products to make meth," Balfe said.

Judy said that there are no similar laws in any other states.

"It's about time Arkansas is first in doing something, rather than
last," she said.

"This law will just make it more difficult to obtain the ingredients
and will help cut down on home labs, so that the DEA has more time
and energy to focus on the larger labs," Judy said.

Not everyone agrees.

Heather Shelby, an employee at USA Drug in Bentonville, says that the
store does not have a problem with suspicious people buying large
quantities of the products.

"We already report any suspicious purchases, but if it became law, it
would really be hard to control," Shelby said. "We could control
prescriptions, but not over-the-counter medications."

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, methamphetamine
abuse is the dominant drug problem in the West and Southwest regions
of the United States and may be spreading to other regions.

Arkansas leads the nation in the number of meth labs seized per
capita in 1999 with 544, according to the federal Drug Enforcement
Administration.

Balfe also said that, although northern and Midwestern states may not
have as severe of a meth problem now, they will in the future - if
the problem is not taken care of.

- - The Associated Press contributed to this report.