METH-FREE MEASURE MOVES THROUGH COMMITTEES

Legislation to limit the sale of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine made good
headway Tuesday in the House and Senate.

Both versions of the "Meth-Free Tennessee Act of 2005" unanimously passed
from a subcommittee to the full House Judiciary Committee. The Senate
version of the bill also passed through the Senate Judiciary Committee and
Senate Finance Committee on the same day.

The bill is scheduled for the full House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday,
March 15, at 9 a.m.

The "Meth-Free Tennessee Act of 2005" would put products containing the
ingredients behind the counter to make it more difficult to manufacture
methamphetamines. The popular ingredients found in over-the-counter cold,
sinus and allergy medicines are the key ingredient for cooking meth.

The Tennessee Board of Pharmacy will maintain a public list of certain
exempted products that contain the precursors. An example of an exempted
product would be one with the ephedrine or pseudoephedrine suspended in a
gel capsule.

According to State Rep. Chris Newton, R-Cleveland, the sale of ephedrine
and pseudoephedrine could only be dispensed by a licensed pharmacy.

Sen. Jeff Miller, R-Cleveland, said in a press release, "This bill attacks
the methamphetamine scourge head-on. It now has leadership support from
both sides of the aisle. We have heard from law enforcement for three years
that something must be done. We need to make it harder for meth cooks to
get the ingredients needed to make meth. We need tougher penalties against
drug-crazed meth cooks. We need to close some legal loopholes that allow
for lighter sentences. This bill does all of these things."

The amount of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine would be limited to nine grams
within a 30-day period. A written or electronic database of people who made
purchases.

"They can't do it yet, but ultimately, they are going to end up with a
statewide database of electronic records that will be in real time," Newton
said. "It might be three or five years before that takes place, but that's
the concept they're talking about."

Possession of more than 20 grams of an immediate methamphetamine precursor
is considered intent to manufacture meth.

The bill also contains a provision for the Tennessee Bureau of
Investigation to establish a registry of people convicted for violating the
"Meth-Free Tennessee Act of 2005."

The Meth Registry will be available to the public on the Internet. The list
will contain a person's name, date of birth, offenses, conviction date and
county and any other information deemed necessary by TBI to properly
identify the person. Names can be removed from the registry after seven years.

The bill also requires hospitals, clinics, doctors, nurses, pharmacists,
undertakers and other persons called to aid someone injured by violence,
poisoning or suffocation to report any suspicions of involvement with meth
to law enforcement officials.

The bill creates new felony offenses and removes loopholes in the law,
which allow meth cooks to get off with lesser charges. One loophole was
allowing meth cooks to claim the meth was for personal use so they could
get off with a misdemeanor.

Pharmacists who violate the proposed statute would be punished by a fine.
The Board of Pharmacy would determine licensing issues in gross violations
of the law.