OTC COLD MEDICINE NOW 'BTC'

New Law Puts Common Products 'Behind The Counter'

Beginning today, purchasing ingredients to make methamphetamine will
be more difficult.

Senate Bill 63, like all the bills passed in the last session of the
General Assembly, takes effect today, as is dictated by law.

SB63 was designed to make it more difficult to purchase what
lawmakers deem "meth precursors."

Products that contain pseudoephedrine -- one of the main ingredients
in methamphetamine production, now only can be sold by licensed
pharmacies and are to be stocked behind the counter.

Although the law may cause an inconvenience for law-abiding citizens
who actually need products such as Sudafed, Claritin or other sinus
and allergy medicines, it's a big step forward in curbing the
production of meth, said Joel Thornbury, president of the Kentucky
Pharmacists Association.

"It's just the start of the beginning," he said. "If this initial
plan works as well as it has in other states, we may very well end up
taking it further."

Products containing pseudoephedrine, ephedrine, or
phenylpropanolamine will now only be sold in retail pharmacies, and
customers must show identification, be 18 years of age and sign their
names, addresses and birthdates in a logbook when buying medicines
containing any of those three ingredients.

Law enforcement officers are allowed to view the logbooks at any time
without a warrant.

"Their (consumers') access is going to be limited," Thornbury said.

Because pharmacies now have to create places to store products,
either in locked display cases or behind the counter, the new
regulation could "result in a decreased selection of product," Thornbury said.

Retail stores without pharmacies are required to stop selling the
products completely, which, Thornbury said, may be a good thing.

"Pharmacies are built by the community," he said. "Where else can
people come in and talk to someone with a doctor-level degree without
an appointment? They're the hidden secret in health care."

Larry Russell, pharmacist and co-owner of the Medicine Shoppe in
Elizabethtown, knew the changes were coming and prepared early.

"We made the adjustments as soon as the bill was passed more than a
month ago," he said.

The law, although necessary to curb the production of drugs, is also
affecting some of his customers, he said.

"I know of one case where someone had to leave without the medicine
because they couldn't produce an ID," he said. "It's affecting
law-abiding citizens as well."

To remedy that, customers are offered other products that are
comparable in nature.

"Many of the drug companies are already creating substitutes,"
Russell said. A product called Sudafed PE replaces pseudoephedrine
with phenylephedrine, which can't be used to produce meth.

The new law is very similar to an existing law which deals with cough
suppressants containing codeine. Already, these products must be sold
by a licensed pharmacist.

Although regular customers may be aggravated for a while, things will
eventually smooth out, Russell said.

"We do not feel the law is at all unjust. Compliance is a bit of a
hassle, but it's one that we are certainly willing to make," he said.