MEDICINE BILL AIMS TO SLOW METH DEALERS

Some Cold Drugs Would Be Kept Off Shelves

RALEIGH - State lawmakers have pulled pharmacists and store owners into the
drug war, ordering them to lock up dozens of brands of cold medicines
starting next year to keep them away from drug abusers.

Now, merchants have to learn what they can legally sell.

House and Senate members sent a bill to Gov. Mike Easley on Friday with
rules for controlling cold tablets containing pseudoephedrine, such as
Sudafed. The move is aimed at stopping the manufacture of the illegal drug
methamphetamine by restricting its key ingredient. The governor is expected
to sign the bill.

Lawmakers and medical industry lobbyists fought over which retailers should
be able to sell the popular medicines, but agreed they needed to stem
meth's spread in the state.

Sheriffs and state troopers have busted at least 250 suspected meth labs so
far this year, up from nine in 1999.

"In some places, they're bringing (a meth mixture) in and adding the final
ingredients in Western North Carolina," said Sen. Tom Apodaca, a
Hendersonville Republican. Apodaca said law officers tell him the problem
is like nothing they've ever seen.

Under the new rules, tablets and caplets with pseudoephedrine have to be
locked up as of Jan. 15. Buyers will have to sign for them.

Gelcaps and liquid forms of the drug won't be locked up, since they have
rarely been found in N.C. meth labs.

Those forms can remain on grocery and convenience store shelves.

A state commission will draft rules on specific drugs containing
pseudoephedrine.

The biggest challenge will be for large pharmacies and retailers that have
stores in several states, said Fred Eckel, director of the N.C. Association
of Pharmacists.

Some stores with pharmacies, such as Target, have pulled some medicines off
shelves nationwide. Others have to deal with different state-by-state rules.

Fran Preston, head of the N.C. Retail Merchants Association, said stores
without pharmacies need to know what products they can sell by mid-October
to train employees by the January deadline.

A few smaller Charlotte-area retailers who say they're aware of the meth
problem put only a couple of cold medicine packets on shelves at a time.

"We really don't have a problem with that, but we are going to have to
conform to whatever the regulations are," said Dan Lenlin, a pharmacist at
Walkers Drug Store in Charlotte.

Preston said her group got an important concession by fighting versions of
the bill that would have banned stores without pharmacies from selling any
version of the cold medicine. Two N.C. counties don't have retail
pharmacies. Several others have pharmacies that are only open during normal
work hours.

"You can still get the product you need if you're on second shift," Preston
said.