METH'S EASTWARD TREK MERITS TOUGH RESPONSE

North Carolina already holds the dubious distinction of being home to
more illegal methamphetamine labs than any other state on the East
Coast. All the more reason for House members to heed the words of
Attorney General Roy Cooper and pass the Meth Lab Prevention Act.

In April, the Senate approved the proposal requiring customers to
show photo identification at pharmacy counters before purchasing
tablets containing pseudoephedrine or ephedrine -- key ingredients in
cooking up illicit and highly addictive meth. A variety of cold
remedies would be kept behind counters. Purchasers would sign up for
no more than a 30-day supply sold only by pharmacy staffs.

Momentum has slowed in the House, where some lawmakers have voiced
concerns about inconveniencing consumers. Those minor annoyances,
however, are bearable considering meth's toll in ruined lives and
rising law-enforcement costs.

Last year, investigators raided 322 meth labs in the state. Although
most were hidden away in secluded rural settings, meth cooks also
have set up shop in busy urban areas. Particularly worrisome is the
chance that the volatile, toxic brewing process could wreak havoc in
crowded city neighborhoods. Also needlessly at risk are emergency
responders and sanitation workers forced to deal with the aftermath.

Young children are particularly vulnerable. In the Midwest, where the
epidemic rages out of control, state agencies care for hundreds of
kids sickened by meth exposure or injured in lab explosions. They are
the smallest victims of parents hooked on a cheap drug characterized
by brief euphoria followed by a lingering emotional crash. Western
states were forced to act quickly and forcefully. Oklahoma's tough,
pace-setting law provides the model for others. Like North Carolina's
proposed legislation, it monitors sales, requires purchase
identification and restricts access.

Denied easy access to the must-have, over-the-counter ingredients,
many meth cooks simply have closed shop and moved eastward.

Meanwhile, Congress finally has recognized the meth migration and may
act. A pending bill would make it tougher, nationwide, to get cold
remedy products used to manufacture meth. Retailers understandably
prefer reasonable national oversight rather than a tangle of state
laws. The Bush administration, however, leans toward state controls.

Either way, swift action is warranted. In North Carolina, raids on
meth labs could spiral from nine just six years ago to more than 400
this year. Legislators took a giant step forward last session by
lengthening prison sentences for convicted meth offenders. Now they
must make it more difficult for meth lab operators to get the ingredients.

It's well worth any inconvenience.