GOVERNOR SIGNS METH-FREE TENNESSEE ACT

Gov. Phil Bredesen today signed legislation that targets the manufacture
and use of methamphetamine.

The Meth-Free Tennessee Act stiffens the penalties for making meth and
requires pharmacies to move certain cold and sinus products, those
containing psuedoephedrine, behind the counter. Retailers that don't have
pharmacies must remove the products from their shelves and stop selling them.

Pseudoephedrine, a decongestant, is an ingredient used to make the illicit
drug. Methamphetamine is an addictive stimulant, often called "speed' or
"crystal." The drug can be taken orally, injected, snorted or smoked.

Most provisions of the law take effect immediately. Retailers selling the
products containing psuedoephedrine have 24 hours to take them off their
shelves. Pharmacies, however, will have 30 days to move the products behind
the counter.

Cold and sinus medicines in liquid form or in liquid-filled capsules are
exempt from the restrictions.

Other key provisions of the law:

* Medical professionals are required to notify law enforcement if they
treat anyone with an injury that resulted from exposure to meth manufacturing.
* Creates the new offense of knowingly beginning a process intended to
result in the manufacture of meth, even if none was actually created or was
created for the individual's use. Sets the penalty as a Class B felony,
which carries a possible penalty of eight-to-30 years in prison.
* Requires law enforcement agencies to provide information regarding
property quarantined as a site where meth is made.
* Makes it a Class D felony to promote the manufacture of meth by selling,
buying, delivering, possessing ingredients or equipment, or permitting the
use of any property to make meth. A Class D felony carries a potential
prison term of two-to-12 years.
* Creates a registry within the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation of people
convicted or incarcerated for methamphetamine offenses. The registry will
be open to the public.
* Makes it a Class A misdemeanor (up to one year in jail) to falsify
results of a drug test.

The governor's proposed state budget includes nearly $7 million to fight
meth, including $2.4 million to pay for the cost of increased incarceration
for meth offenses, $1.7 to launch a drug court pilot project to test the
effectiveness of treatment and light incarceration, $1.5 million for a
statewide education and public awareness campaign, and $600,000 for
meth-lab response training for law enforcement and other first responders.

Also announced today, the state is partnering with Partnership for a
Drug-Free America to launch the statewide education campaign. The program
will consist of advertising and public relations efforts aimed at parents
and their children, featuring testimony from pediatricians.

The campaign is an expansion of a methamphetamine education program created
Partnership in 2003 that was launched in two pilot markets, Phoenix and St.
Louis. That campaign and the Tennessee campaign receive funding from a
grant from the Consumer Healthcare Products Association.

CHPA is a trade association that represents U.S. manufacturers and
distributors of over-the-counter medicine and nutritional supplements.