METH BILL PASSED TO VILSACK

DES MOINES - Iowa lawmakers swiftly approved legislation Wednesday creating
the nation's toughest limits on the sale of pseudoephedrine, a common,
legal cold medication used to make the illegal stimulant methamphetamine.

The House and Senate embraced a compromise bill just hours after it was
crafted by a special panel of lawmakers. Passage sends it to Gov. Tom
Vilsack, who praised lawmakers and said he will sign the bill next week.

"It is an indication of what can happen when we work in a bipartisan way.
It is an indication of what happens when we focus on the common good," he said.

The bill was approved 50-0 in the Senate and 98-0 in the House.

"This is a major victory in the war on meth labs in Iowa. I really believe
it," said Rep. Clel Baudler, R-Greenfield, a retired state trooper who led
the charge for tighter limits. "Within days after this goes into effect,
you will see results and I think they'll be dramatic. I certainly hope so."

Under the bill, most cold, flu and allergy remedies containing
pseudoephedrine - a nasal decongestant - would be sold only in pharmacies.
Other retail outlets, such as convenience stores, would be allowed to sell
small doses of liquid or gel-capsule medications.

Thousands of Iowans who buy pseudoephedrine would be required to display
valid identification and sign a logbook.

Backers predicted the bill will help cut the supply of pseudoephedrine to
meth "cookers" who need it to concoct the highly addictive drug in hidden,
volatile labs. Iowa law enforcement officers seized a record 1,427 meth
labs statewide last year while addicts continue to jam jails and treatment
facilities.

In Oklahoma, a similar law approved in 2004 is credited with slicing the
number of meth lab seizures in half.

The bill designates the solid, tablet form of pseudoephedrine as a Schedule
V controlled substance, which could be dispensed only by a pharmacist.
Purchases would be limited to no more than 7,500 milligrams in a single month.

Non-pharmacy retailers would be allowed to sell liquid and gel-capsule
medications containing a smaller amount of pseudoephedrine - 360 milligrams
or less. Those products would be kept under lock and key and purchases
would be limited to one package per day. The ID and log book requirements
also would apply to those sales.

The bill sets criminal and civil penalties for store employees and
consumers who break the law, including fines ranging from $100 to $500. It
also increases penalties aimed at those who try to steal pseudoephedrine.

Lawmakers contend that the liquid-gel capsule exception allows retail
stores, especially in rural areas without pharmacies, to continue selling
cold remedies. They insist it is much harder to make meth from
pseudoephedrine in its liquid form.

But Jerry Fleagle, the president of the Iowa Grocery Industry Association,
contends that the restrictions still go too far. He said, for instance,
that the 360-milligram limit means a mother with a sick infant and an ill
older child could not buy medicine for both at her local convenience store.

The grocery association wanted a two-package purchase limit.

"I don't want to be the mother that has to make that choice," Fleagle said.
"Maybe we'll have to post the legislators' phone numbers and have that
mother call them."

Bill supporters argued that the tight limits are needed to stop meth makers
from hopping between stores to get the ingredients they need.

Several states are exploring pseudoephedrine sales limits, but drug control
agents, Vilsack and lawmakers say none of those measures contain the kind
of limits on liquid products and on monthly purchases that are in Iowa's
measure. Most exempt all liquid products from purchase limits and allow
consumers to buy 9,000 milligrams or more each month.

"There are 20 or more states considering restrictions. This is very much
the best, the most restrictive of all Schedule V proposals in the nation,"
said Marvin Van Haaften, a former county sheriff who directs the Governor's
Office of Drug Control Policy.

Lawmakers concede that the fight against meth is far from won. Less than 20
percent of Iowa's meth is cooked locally with the rest smuggled in from out
of state.

But law enforcement agencies argue that shutting down labs would free up
personnel and resources to focus on trafficking.

"Every year, we tackle methamphetamine. This is only a step in the
process," said Sen. Bob Brunkhorst, R-Waverly, who helped craft the
legislation. "I think you can feel proud that we will make an impact."