TENN. LAW TO CUT METH ABUSE

Cold Medicine Will Go Behind Counter

While the N.C. General Assembly will continue to look into the problem
of methamphetamine labs in North Carolina this month, the Tennessee
governor signed into law on Wednesday comprehensive legislation
designed to combat meth manufacturing and abuse.

The Meth-Free Tennessee Act, which passed unanimously in both the
House and Senate, was the product of an intense study conducted last
year by the governor's Task Force on Methamphetamine Abuse.

The significant growth in the number of meth labs in Tennessee
prompted Gov. Phil Bredesen to set up the task force, said Ken Givens,
chairman of the group.

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the number of
meth labs in Tennessee increased from 109 in 1999 to 1,594 in 2004,
making Tennessee account for 75 percent of meth lab seizures in the
Southeast.

The new law will move cold and sinus medicine containing
pseudoephedrine to behind the pharmacy counter. Pseudoephedrine, a
decongestant, is the vital ingredient in meth manufacturing.

The law also closes the so-called "personal-use loophole" in criminal
law and requires health professionals to report meth lab-related burns
and injuries to local law enforcement.

Tenn. House Majority Leader Kim McMillan, D-Clarksville, one of the
bill's sponsors, said she is grateful that the governor invested the
funds to look into the issue.

"The law is extremely important," McMillan said. "The number of meth
labs has grown tremendously in recent years, and we need to quickly
find ways to cope with the problem. This is a big step in helping us
to do that."

The law could inconvenience people who want to buy cold medicine, but
McMillan said that the need to deal with the problem clearly overrides
the inconvenience it causes.

"We need to protect people from the danger of addiction, especially
the children," she said. "We need to make sure they are safe."

Tennesseans support the law, said Tenn. Rep. Les Winningham,
D-Huntsville, another sponsor of the bill and a member of the task
force.

He said pharmacists are cooperative with the extra responsibilities
that the law puts on them. "Pharmacists are most willing to do what we
feel is necessary to reduce the number of meth labs."

Winningham said he expects to see an immediate reduction in the number
of the state's meth labs - by 50 percent in six months and by up to 90
percent in a year.

Givens said it is important for neighboring states to make similar
laws. Meth labs could multiply in border states with more relaxed
laws, he said.

"We share borders with more states than any others, so Tennessee would
be helped if neighboring states passed the law, too," he said. "We
would be happy to discuss what we have done with people in North Carolina."

It is possible that meth labs in Tennessee would move across borders,
said Jennifer Johnson, spokeswoman for the Tenn. Bureau of
Investigation.

"We have credible tips that meth labs in some counties like Johnson
are going across the borders," she said.

N.C. Sen. Walter Dalton, D-Rutherford, said that North Carolina and
Tennessee are cooperating in tackling meth labs. Dalton is the primary
sponsor for the Meth Lab Prevention Act, scheduled for hearing on
April 12 in the N.C. Senate Judiciary II Committee.

"I know there is dialogue between our attorney general and attorney
generals of other states so that we have unified laws to combat the
problem," Dalton said. "Legislators in North Carolina tend to support
the bill."