ANTI-METH ID REQUIREMENT IS PROBLEMATIC

Methamphetamine is one of the top illegal drugs contributing to violent
crime in the U.S., with many other nonviolent crimes such as robbery and
theft traced back to meth use, including identity theft. Complicating this
troubling issue is the fact that the main ingredient in meth is found - in
much smaller doses, of course - in some over-the-counter cold medicines,
specifically those that contain the decongestant pseudoephedrine. It is
combined in meth labs in a toxic chemical cocktail to create the drug.
There's nothing preventing someone from walking into a drug store and
buying all the Sudafed on the shelves, but that may be about to change in a
bill requiring that medications containing any amount of pseudoephedrine in
non-liquid form be sold from behind the pharmacy counter. It would also
require the pharmacist to maintain a record of the purchaser's name and
identification. When a similar law was passed in Oklahoma, that state
experienced a more than 70 percent decrease in meth lab seizures.
Restricting the sale of these medications makes sense, and it should be
noted that some stores already voluntarily limit the amount of cold
remedies containing pseudoephedrine that customers may purchase on each
visit. But requiring ID for such purposes should be carefully scrutinized
for unintended consequences. While it sounds good on paper, it may in fact
increase the already exploding identity theft problem.

Drug addicts will do anything for their next fix. Creating a fake ID from
stolen information is easy to do. Unless the pharmacy records are tied
together electronically, that ID can be recycled through Target, Wal-Mart
and many other pharmacies in town. Then again, developing a
government-controlled data bank of citizens purchasing perfectly legal cold
medicines also is problematic: At what point does an innocent householder
who just happens to be stocking up in preparation for the cold and flu
season become a suspect? Putting the cold medicine behind the pharmacy
counter and restricting the amount that can be purchased is a good idea. So
is toughening and vigorously enforcing the law against meth production and
sale; penalties should be especially harsh for those who expose children to
the hazardous chemicals involved in making meth.

But requiring ID is going too far. If the meth problem becomes increasingly
severe, it may at some point be in the public's best interests to require
prescriptions for some of these medicines.