REALTORS' WAR ON SUDAFED: DRUG USED IN HOME CRYSTAL-METH LABS

The common cold remedy Sudafed might someday soon be harder to buy -
thanks to your local real estate agent.

The Massachusetts Association of Realtors is backing a Beacon Hill
proposal to move the popular nasal decongestant out of drug-store
aisles and put it behind pharmacy counters.

The Realtors don't have a grudge against the cold medicine.

Rather, Sudafed is a key ingredient helping fuel an illicit drug craze
sweeping the country - hooking teens and literally wrecking homes.

Drug dealers are stocking up on Sudafed to convert it into crystal
methamphetamine, or ``crystal meth.''

However, the process of turning Sudafed into crystal meth in an
illegal home drug lab can create pungent, noxious fumes that can make
a property uninhabitable.

``Some of these properties end up being condemned,'' MAR Associate
General Counsel Margy Grant said.

She added that the ``stigma (of a home meth lab) can really have
significant ramifications on the value of the property and the
neighborhood.''

With the meth epidemic moving east from Oklahoma, Iowa and Texas,
state Sen. Harriett Chandler (D-Worcester) has filed a bill that would
put tough restrictions on over-the-counter Sudafed sales.

``What we are trying to do is stop (meth) before it overwhelms us,''
the lawmaker said.

Chandler's proposal would make stores put Sudafed tablets - but not
the medication's liquid form - under lock and key behind the pharmacy
counter.

In order to buy tablets, customers would have to request the drug,
sign for it and show identification.

The bill would also limit a person's purchase of Sudafed pills to
three packages a month.

While the restrictions might sound severe, several other states are
now drafting or have already passed such legislation, Chandler said.

Her efforts are getting a big boost from the real estate trade group,
which plans to testify in favor of the bill at a hearing next month.

The group has made passage of the bill one of its legislative
priorities.