N.C. HOUSE WRAPS UP WORK, FINAL ADJOURNMENT EXPECTED FRIDAY

The House wrapped up its work for the year Wednesday by giving final
approval to a bill that will keep some popular cold medicines behind
pharmacy counters in an effort to fight methamphetamine labs.

No meetings were scheduled Thursday, and just a few lawmakers were expected
to attend low-key sessions Friday, when the General Assembly is expected to
formally adjourn its seven-month session.

The Senate left Tuesday after approving a lottery bill.

"I don't believe we're going to be taking up any more legislation," House
Speaker Jim Black, D-Mecklenburg, told colleagues.

After a long, historic session that included approval of a state-run
lottery and a cigarette tax increase, some House members hugged at the end
of Wednesday's session.

"I am ready. I'm on my way," Rep. Ray Rapp, D-Madison, said as he cleaned
off his desk. "We've done some good things and some things I wish we hadn't
done."

The House approved a Senate bill that would keep popular cold tablets that
contain an ingredient used in the illegal manufacture of methamphetamine
behind a pharmacy counter.

House negotiators contended that a version the chamber passed Tuesday but
not approved by the Senate would have been the strongest in the nation.

"This is still a strong bill," Rep. Rick Glazier, D-Mecklenburg, said of
the compromise approved unanimously. "It's not the strongest bill."

Sen. Walter Dalton, D-Rutherford, the chief proponent of meth legislation
in the House, disagreed, calling the final product "the tougher meth
legislation."

The North Carolina bill follows other states trying to curb production of
the highly addictive synthetic drug produced in an escalating number of
clandestine labs.

The measure headed to Gov. Mike Easley's desk requires all cold tablets
containing any pseudoephedrine and ephedrine - some with brand names
Sudafed, Drixoral and Claritin-D - to be sold behind a pharmacy counter.

Adults would have to show a photo identification and sign a log before
purchasing the medicine. They would be limited to no more than two products
at once and three a month.

Most liquid, gel-capsule and children's forms of the medicines will remain
available on retail store aisles. The House version would have kept those
medicines behind store counters.

Investigators say it's difficult to make meth from those products. Retail
merchants and pharmacists lobbying the Legislature for months on the issue
said the compromise improves access for those who are using the drugs for
colds and not to make meth.

"When you start taking liquids and other items (off the shelves), then you
are punishing the general public," said Mike James with Person Street
Pharmacy in Raleigh.

The final version gives authority to a state commission to take certain
products off the shelves if there's evidence that unregulated forms are
being used for illegal purposes.

The number of busted labs in North Carolina has jumped from nine in 1999 to
244 so far this year, said Attorney General Roy Cooper, who wanted the
sales restrictions. More than 80 children have been removed from the labs.

"Our communities will be safer because of this tough new law," Cooper said
in a statement. "If criminals can't get the key ingredient, they can't make
this dangerous illegal drug that's hurting children and families."

The chamber also rejected a bill that would have repealed a new law that
requires clerks of court to provide domestic violence victims with
information about obtaining a concealed weapons permit.

Easley signed the law last weekend, but only after assurances that the
House would attempt to amend it before it adjourned.

Domestic violence advocates complained the law would needlessly encourage
victims to insert a weapon into an already tense situation.

Sheriffs already have the authority to issue an emergency concealed weapons
permit to people who obtain restraining orders against alleged abusers.

The proposed changes, said Rep. Wilma Sherrill, R-Buncombe, "may save a life."

But the repeal was defeated Wednesday by a vote of 57-49 after some House
members argued that the permit information would be helpful. Others
complained that the governor and legislative leaders were trying to negate
a bill that was approved by a wide margin in both chambers.

"We're going to go to the back door to change it," said Rep. Jeff Barnhart,
R-Cabarrus. "And that's wrong."

Should the House and Senate go through with adjournment Friday, the General
Assembly will have several items on the table when legislators return next May.

The Senate has yet to take up House bills that reworked the state's
driving-while-impaired laws and created a commission to examine the claims
of people who argued they were wrongfully convicted of crimes.

Also unresolved until the spring would be traditional session-ending
legislation that makes largely technical corrections to state law and
direct study topics during the interim.

The studies bill contained a House review of the capital punishment system,
but Black said he'll still create a special committee to study the matter.

The House also didn't consider a bill repealing an auctioneer licensing
law. Easley signed that law last week before the Senate figured out it
never actually voted on the measure. The Senate passed the repeal Tuesday
to attempt to fix the mistake.