THE METH MESS

Lawmakers OK Tough Prescription For Illegal Drug Labs

North Carolina has joined the list of states with tighter restrictions on
the sale of common cold and allergy medicines to fight the spread of
illegal drug labs that use their ingredients to make a powerful drug called
methamphetamine. Lawmakers spent months sorting through competing proposals
to clamp down on the production of crystal meth before agreeing on an
approach similar to Oklahoma's.

That law reportedly led to an 85 percent drop in meth labs found in
Oklahoma. Law enforcement officials hope for a similar result in North
Carolina, where officers shut down 322 illegal labs last year and 244 so
far this year.

N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper has sought such legislation since
February. He told lawmakers that illicit meth labs, sometimes found in
residential kitchens, were not only producing illegal drugs that cause
health problems, but also polluted the property where they were made, were
costly to clean up and were extremely harmful to children living in those
households. "If criminals can't get the key ingredient, they can't make
this dangerous illegal drug that's hurting children and families," he said
last week.

The state House and Senate examined what other states did to restrict
nonprescription drugs containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, the key
ingredient in meth. Some states chose to require consumers to show
identification and sign for any medicine containing those substances, while
others allowed gel caps and liquids to remain on shelves. The bill
lawmakers agreed to last week allows gel caps and liquids to remain on open
shelves after Mr. Cooper's department reported they had not been found
among ingredients used in drug labs. But the state Mental Health Commission
could restrict gel caps and liquids, too, if evidence develops that they,
too are being used to make methamphetamine.

Drug manufacturers, meanwhile, are working on alternative over-the-counter
medicines that do not contain ephedrine or pseudoephedrine. Those products
should be available this fall.

It's too bad that consumers who use such products as Sudafed have to pay
the price in annoyance and delays. They'll have to be at least 18. They'll
be able to purchase them only at pharmacy counters. They'll have to show
photo identification and sign for their purchase. They'll be able to buy
only two packages at a time, and no more than three within a 30-day period
without a prescription.

This will be a pain for some cold and allergy sufferers. But there seemed
to be no good alternative to tight controls. Oregon has just decided to
require a prescription for any cold and allergy medicine that can be used
to make methamphetamine drugs. North Carolina's seems a reasonable approach
to a scary problem.