BLUNT SIGNS ANTI-METH BILLS

JEFFERSON CITY - Missourians with colds and hay fever have 30 days to
stock up before it becomes harder to buy Sudafed and other medicines to
relieve their suffering.

Gov. Matt Blunt signed legislation Wednesday to require tablets that
contain ephedrine and pseudoephedrine ? used to make methamphetamine ?
be kept behind a counter and sold only by pharmacists and pharmacy
technicians.

"These bills will keep the key ingredients needed to make meth . out of
the hands of drug manufacturers and, by so doing, will put them out of
business," Blunt said in a statement.

The new law, effective in 30 days, is contained in two bills Blunt
signed Wednesday in ceremonies in Kirksville, Hannibal, Jackson,
Springfield and Joplin.

Missouri's new law also:

¦ Requires customers buying pseudoephedrine products to be at least 18.

¦ Says customers must provide photo identification to a pharmacist.

¦ Requires pharmacists to keep a log of customers buying such products
and that it be available for inspection by law enforcement officials.

¦ Limits purchases of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine tablets to no more
than nine grams a month, or 300 tablets. A typical box contains 24
tablets, so the law still allows customers to buy plenty of medicine.

Violation of the law is a misdemeanor.

At least 16 other states, including Kansas, have passed similar laws
restricting the sale of pseudoephedrine products after Oklahoma last
passed a law officials there say has dramatically curtailed meth
production.

Several bills have been introduced in Congress to enact a similar law.

Missouri has led the nation in meth lab seizures for the last several
years. According to the Missouri Highway Patrol, there were 2,788 meth
labs seized in 2004.

A 2003 law in Missouri required products with pseudoephedrine or
ephedrine to be placed behind the checkout counter or close to it.

To comply with the newest law, Ron Fitzwater, chief executive officer
of the Missouri Pharmacy Association, said pharmacies across the state
were preparing to move pseudoephedrine and ephedrine tablets behind the
pharmacy counter. Many pharmacies already have placed cold medications
behind the counter, he said.

But the bigger job for pharmacies is to determine whether they will
keep paper or electronic logs of purchases.

"Obviously, they realize it's going to be a little bit more of a
burden, but we've seen the abuses of these products," Fitzwater said.

The new restrictions do not apply to liquid medications with
pseudoephedrine or ephedrine, or to liquid-filled gel capsules, which
are more difficult to use in making meth.

That exception was important to retailer groups like the Missouri
Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association. Ron Leone, the
organization's executive director, said convenience stores were "the
only game in town" for much of rural Missouri and for those who needed
medicine in the middle of the night.

"I think since we crafted a solution (to exempt liquids and gel
capsules), we're OK with it," he said.

Waiting for a prescription at a CVS Pharmacy in Kansas City, North,
Ruth Stewart described the new restrictions as "a pain in the rear
end."

Yet Stewart said while "inconvenient for the customers," the new law
would be worthwhile if it deterred meth production.

The new law, in addition to requiring photo identification to buy some
cold medicines, also might mean customers have to make two purchases on
the same trip.

Sue Prast, a pharmacist at a Hy-Vee in Kansas City, North, said
customers buying products such as Sudafed with other items must make
two transactions ? one at the pharmacy counter and the other at the
front of the store for all other purchases.

Throughout the pharmacy, signs alert Sudafed buyers the product is
available behind the counter only as part of the "effort to reduce the
manufacturing of illegal drugs in our community."

Drug manufacturers also are responding to anti-meth law by altering
products.

Prast said shipments of Vicks NyQuil have been on hold because the
manufacturer has begun replacing pseudoephedrine with phenylephrine,
which is not used in meth production. Prast said she expected more drug
makers to also reformulate.

"If there's anything you want to buy," Prast said, "buy it now because
it's either going to be off the market or changed to something
different."

Though the new law limits the amount of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine
products that can be bought and requires pharmacists to keep a log of
those buying the products, it does not require that the logs be turned
in to law enforcement agencies. It also does not require that police
agencies regularly inspect the logs or share information with other law
enforcement agencies.

Rick Hayslett, owner of the Grandview Medicine Shoppe, said a
centralized computer system was needed to track those who might abuse
the law by traveling to several different pharmacies, instead of
loading up on medicines at one location.

"It's another regulation, but I think it's good," Hayslett said.

Outside the Medicine Shoppe, Barbara Willoughby said methamphetamine
was starting to become a problem in her hometown of Adrian, Mo.

"I think it's a good idea, to keep this . off the street," Willoughby
said. "I have children that age who don't always make the best
decisions."