METH FIGHT GOES TO PHARMACY

States Eye Prescription-Only Cold Medicines to Limit Key Ingredient in
Illegal Stimulant

A nationwide resurgence in illegal methamphetamine labs is prompting
state and municipal lawmakers to consider copying an Oregon law
requiring a prescription for many cold medicines, a restriction
opposed by manufacturers.

Oregon in 2005 became the first state to require a doctor's
prescription for medications containing pseudoephedrine, which is used
in about 40 cold and allergy medicines. Pseudoephedrine also is the
primary ingredient for methamphetamine, a highly addictive stimulant.

Oregon's prescription law goes further than the 2005 federal
legislation restricting the sale of pseudoephedrine. Federal law
limits how much consumers can purchase per month and during each store
visit. It requires retailers to track purchases and refuse the sale of
more pseudoephedrine than allowed.

Medicines containing pseudoephedrine also have to be kept behind the
counter or in a locked cabinet under the federal law. In addition,
authorities have access to retailers' logs to see who is buying
pseudoephedrine and how much.

Since Oregon's law took effect in 2006, meth-related arrests in the
state have dropped 43%; the number of meth labs has fallen to an
estimated 17 this year from 587 in 2001, according to state figures.
Last month, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said Oregon had some
of the nation's largest crime reductions in 2008, with a 10.6% drop in
violent crime, compared with a national decline of 2.7%.

Craig Prins, executive director of the Oregon Criminal Justice
Commission said he believes there is a significant relationship
between the state law and the fall in crime. While there are many
factors involved, he said, "there's nothing that I've seen that has
the same correlation."

Oregon's prescription law has triggered interest among legislators and
law enforcement elsewhere, especially as the number of meth labs has
soared with the spread of the drug. Nationwide, the number of active
meth labs jumped to 3,600 in 2008 from 3,000 in 2007, authorities said.

While federal laws limiting pseudoephedrine purchases helped shrink
the number of meth labs between 2005 and 2007, meth producers have
since found ways to circumvent those laws, such as deploying large
groups of people to buy their limit of cold medicines and then pool
the purchases to make the illegal drug.

The city of Washington, Mo., in June passed an ordinance requiring a
prescription for pseudoephedrine and said it was modeled on Oregon's
law. In October, the city of Union, Mo., followed suit. "To me, [what
Oregon did] is the answer," said Richard Stratman, mayor of
Washington, Mo., which became the first municipality in the U.S. to
require a prescription for pseudoephedrine. "If you can tie up the
pseudoephedrine and make it difficult to obtain, you can get the job
maybe not completely done, but you can put a pretty good dent in those
labs."

State lawmakers in Missouri and California earlier this year
introduced bills proposing similar laws. Legislators in Oklahoma and
Montana are studying Oregon's law.

In August, Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon drafted federal
legislation calling for a nationwide prescription mandate for
pseudoephedrine; he said he planned to introduce it this year. The
White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, which establishes
policies and priorities for drug-control programs, is examining
Oregon's law, though it hasn't taken a position on it.

Oregon's prescription law also has drawn controversy. The Consumer
Healthcare Products Association, which lobbies for companies such as
Johnson & Johnson and GlaxoSmithKline PLC that make over-the-counter
medicines, said Oregon's law created an inconvenience and extra
expense by requiring consumers to visit a doctor for a prescription.
Pseudoephedrine generates about $500 million in annual sales in the
U.S., excluding sales at Wal-Mart Stores Inc., said Andrew Fish,
CHPA's general counsel.

The prescription law is "a policy step that puts a great burden not
only on consumers but on the health-care system as well," Mr. Fish
said.

The CHPA and some lawmakers are instead pushing for an electronic
monitoring system, which the CHPA says the dozens of drug companies it
represents would pay for. The system tracks people who buy
pseudoephedrine and would prevent anyone from going over a monthly
limit at the point of sale. Authorities can access the system and are
alerted when someone attempts to exceed the purchase limit. Kentucky,
Arkansas and Oklahoma already have electronic tracking systems.

Oregon officials acknowledge getting a prescription for some cold
medicines is a nuisance. But they note that consumers have alternative
products available. Electronic tracking, they add, could encourage
meth producers to steal identities to circumvent the system.

"As far as I'm concerned, this law [of requiring a prescription for
pseudoephedrine] saves lives, it saves families and it saves a lot of
money, both for the government and the property owner, from not having
to clean up these things," said Rob Bovett, chair of Oregon Gov. Ted
Kulongoski's Meth Task Force, who was the prescription law's principal
author.