A NATIONAL LAW FOR A NATIONAL PROBLEM MAKES SENSE

It's looking more and more like the West Virginia Legislature's action
this past session to restrict the purchase of certain over-the-counter
cold remedies was right on the mark.

Congress is adding its voice to the growing support for a national law
to limit the sales of OTC medicines containing pseudoephedrine, an
ingredient used in the manufacture of the highly addictive illegal
drug, methamphetamine.

The clandestine labs that cook up meth have become epidemic in some
parts of the country. A sharp rise in the number in West Virginia
prompted the Legislature to act this past winter.

West Virginia will join the ranks of more than a dozen states limiting
the sales when the law takes effect July 8. Several other states are
considering such legislation.

Retailers once resisted the idea, saying it would inconvenience
consumers. Today, stores seem ready to go along with a federal law in
hopes of avoiding a tangle of state regulations.

This month, a Senate committee plans hearings on a bill modeled on the
same Oklahoma law upon which West Virginia's measure was based. As in
West Virginia and Oklahoma, buyers would only be able to purchase
pseudoephedrine-laced medicines from a pharmacist or pharmacy tech.

Customers would have to show a photo ID, sign a log and be limited to
9 grams -- or about 300 30-milligram pills -- in a 30-day period. The
government can make exceptions in areas where pharmacies are not
easily accessible.

With the manufacture of meth becoming a nationwide problem, a
nationwide law makes sense. More and more national retailers are
voluntarily limiting access to the medicines and the National
Association of Chain Drug Stores has endorsed a set of principles that
includes limiting access to the drugs.

"We do think it's time for a federal solution," said Mary Ann Wagner,
the association's vice president of pharmacy regulatory affairs. "It's
just becoming so complicated when you look at a map across the country
and no two laws are anything alike."

Early signs show state laws are having positive effects, according to
the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, which reported
a 50 percent drop in the number of meth labs in Oklahoma and Oregon,
two of the first states to enact such laws.

Increased regulation on the federal level isn't always what we would
wish for. Oftentimes, edicts from above lead to unfunded mandates.

But in this case, we can see the need for some federal
intervention.

As one Missouri-based drug task force officer said, "A federal law is
not going to wipe it out, but if we can get away from the cleanup of
these meth labs, it's going to free up a lot of our time and we can
target those that are bringing it in from across the border."

Officials estimate about one-third of meth comes from small labs in
the U.S. with the rest smuggled in bulk from labs outside the country,
mainly Mexico.

In this case, it appears the U.S. Congress can do something tangible
to help fight the war on drugs. We urge our senators and
representatives to get on board this plan early.