NEW METH LAW LAUDED

Klamath County's district attorney says new nationwide legislation
curbing methamphetamine will reinforce the efforts of the county's
meth task force - finally.

"Now the efforts we do locally will mean even more," said District
Attorney Ed Caleb, who has called meth the "most serious law
enforcement problem in Klamath County." The task force, headed by
Caleb, has worked in recent years to educate businesses about drug
testing and has developed educational projects in local schools,
among other efforts. But legislation restricting international drug
cartels who bring in meth gets to the heart of the problem, Caleb said.

The U.S. Senate passed the legislation Thursday as part of a bill
reauthorizing the USA Patriot Act. The House is expected to pass the
Patriot Act next week and send it to President Bush.

Bush has promised to sign it by March 10.

The law, co-sponsored by Sen. Jim Talent, R-Mo., and Sen. Dianne
Feinstein, D-Calif., would limit access to cold pills like Sudafed
that contain pseudoephedrine.

The Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act will impose nationwide
controls on cold remedies that contain pseudoephedrine, meth's
essential ingredient, and dramatically expand U.S. authority over
global trade in the chemicals.

Under the bill, consumers would be limited to 3.6 grams, or about 120
cold pills, per day, and 9 grams, or about 300 pills, per month.
Buyers would need to show photo identification and sign a logbook.

Oregon and other states have already passed laws limiting access to
common cold medicine, and the number of labs seized by police in
those has declined. But when local labs close, production is often
filled by Mexican drug cartels that ship the drug into the United
States. Rick Doan, supervisor of the Klamath Interagency Narcotics
Team, said the restrictions on other states will deter the county's
drug users who often go to different states to purchase
pseudoephedrine products.

"With those people being more restricted will help Oregon because
they can't go shopping next door to Washington or California," Doan said.

More than 75 percent of Klamath County's drug cases are meth-related
and more than 50 percent of the area's foster care cases involve the
parents' use of meth, according to the county's task force's report
released earlier this year. Language written by Rep. Darlene Hooley
of Oregon will allow the Drug Enforcement Administration to demand
sales records from foreign manufacturers, to help track the
destination of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine shipments globally.

Companies that refuse could lose the ability to sell their chemicals
in the United States.

Another section of the law would require the U.S. to set import
quotas for ephedrine and pseudoephedrine based on legitimate need.

"The big part of the bill, in my mind, is the international controls
on pseudoephedrine," said Rob Bovett, executive director of the
Oregon Narcotics Enforcement Association. "Because if the
administration is not successful in getting voluntary compliance from
China, India and Mexico to cut off the supply of pseudoephedrine
feeding the superlabs, then we need to take strong action."