NEED SUDAFED? ASK NICELY

New Law Targets Meth Production

As of Sunday, consumers must ask for medicines with pseudoephedrine,
which can be used to make meth. The Associated Press A state law
that restricts the sale of some cold medications to crimp the
production of methamphetamine took effect Sunday.

Consumers now must request medications that contain pseudoephedrine,
such as Sudafed, at a pharmacy counter.

Buyers also must provide proof that they are at least 18 years old
and sign a log that can be turned over to law officers hoping to spot
buyers who travel from store to store to stock up on the ingredient.
Sales are limited to only two packages at a time.

The law was approved by the legislature last year to cut into the
growing production of methamphetamine in North Carolina. In 1999, the
first year that meth labs were reported in the state, authorities
discovered nine labs. Last year, investigators found 328 amateur labs.

The law is based on one passed in Oklahoma in 2004 that helped reduce
the production of meth in that state by 80 percent, the state Justice
Department said.

"Putting these products behind a pharmacy counter is a small price to
pay to protect our communities from these potentially deadly drug
labs," Attorney General Roy Cooper said in a statement.

Some consumers said they don't mind the inconvenience.

"If it keeps it out of the hands of people who abuse it, I think it's
a good idea," Jo Sessoms said outside an Eckerd pharmacy in
Winston-Salem. "I wouldn't mind going to the counter."

But customers in rural areas will most notice the changes, said Andy
Ellen, general counsel for the N.C. Retail Merchants Association.
Rural areas have fewer pharmacies and counters may close early due to
a shortage of pharmacists, he said. Pharmacists also will be limited
in the amount of service that they can provide to customers who want
to compare brands and ingredients in the medicine, he said.

The law won't stop addicts from getting the drug, Ellen said.

"On Monday morning, meth addicts aren't going to wake up and say,
'I'm going to quit cold turkey,' " Ellen said. "Other states have
seen an increase in meth because it's being shipped in from the black market."

A sheriff in the heart of the region seeing the greatest increase in
methamphetamine trafficking agreed that it will be hard to stop the
drug's flow.

But the law limits the local availability of ingredients needed by
low-level dealers and users, Wilkes County Sheriff Dane Mastin said.

"We think moving the tablets back to where they're not readily
accessible and monitoring the amount people can get is a good
deterrent," Mastin said.