HOW TO KILL THE METH MONSTER

THE latest bad news from the world of methamphetamine is that makers
of the drug have perfected a one-pot recipe that enables them to
manufacture their highly addictive product while on the move, often in
their car. The materials they need - a two-liter soda bottle, a few
cold pills and some household chemicals - are easily obtained and
easily discarded, often in a trash bag dumped along the highway.

There is, however, a simple way to end this mobile industry - and,
indeed, most methamphetamine production. We've tried it in Oregon, and
have seen how well it works. Just keep a key ingredient,
pseudoephedrine, out of the hands of meth producers.

Pseudoephedrine is a nasal decongestant found in some cold and allergy
medicines. In 1976, the Food and Drug Administration allowed it to be
sold over the counter, inadvertently letting the genie out of the
bottle. Afterward, the meth epidemic spread across the nation, leaving
destroyed lives and families in its wake.

Sales of products containing pseudoephedrine in the United States now
amount to nearly $600 million a year. Yet, according to the
pharmaceutical industry, only 15 million Americans use the drug to
treat their stuffed-up noses, and these people typically buy no more
than a package or two ($10 to $20 worth) a year.

Over the years, Congress and state legislatures have passed laws meant
to prevent the diversion of pseudoephedrine to meth production. But
such efforts have amounted to only temporary Band-Aids.

In 2006, Congress required pseudoephedrine products to be moved behind
the counter, set daily and monthly limits on the amount that can be
sold to any one customer and required retailers to keep a log of
sales. But meth users quickly learned to evade these controls by
making purchases in several different stores - a practice known as
"smurfing."

In an effort to avoid having more stringent controls placed on the
drug, the pharmaceutical industry is lobbying Congress to require
electronic tracking of pseudoephedrine sales, as some states already
do. This makes it harder for an individual smurfer to collect large
quantities of the drug. But meth users get around the tracking system
by banding together in cooperatives, with each member buying
pseudoephedrine products in amounts small enough to evade detection.
These group smurfers then contribute their portion to the pot in
exchange for cash or a share of the cooked-up meth. Or, in the West,
they feed the "super labs" run by drug trafficking organizations in
Central California.

In Kentucky, an electronic tracking law that went into effect in 2008
has had no effect on the number of meth labs there, and only 10
percent of them are found by electronic tracking. The number of police
incidents involving meth labs has actually increased by more than 40
percent.

The only effective solution is to put the genie back in the bottle by
returning pseudoephedrine to prescription-drug status. That's what
Oregon did more than four years ago, enabling the state to eliminate
smurfing and nearly eradicate meth labs. This is part of the reason
that Oregon recently experienced the steepest decline in crime rates
in the 50 states.

Earlier this year, Mississippi also passed a law requiring a
prescription to get pseudoephedrine. Since July, the number of meth
labs in that state has fallen by 65 percent.

In 2009, Mexico, which had been the source of most of the
methamphetamine on the streets of the United States, went further,
banning pseudoephedrine entirely. The potency of meth from Mexico has
since plummeted. This is great news. But now the ball is back in our
court.

These pseudoephedrine prescription requirements apply to only 15
pharmaceutical products and their generic equivalents - medicines like
Sudafed 12 Hour, Aleve D and Advil Cold and Sinus. Most cold and
allergy medicines on store shelves are not affected, because they
contain no pseudoephedrine.

Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon has proposed legislation to require
prescriptions for products with pseudoephedrine nationwide, and
Congress should enact it without delay. American families, too many
already devastated by the meth epidemic, deserve no less.