METH INGREDIENTS TARGET OF LAWS

Some state lawmakers are working on legislation to limit the sale of cold
medicines containing a common ingredient in methamphetamine, hoping to
prevent "meth lab border-hopping" by making Wisconsin laws more consistent
with those in neighboring states.

Wisconsin's Department of Justice wants state legislators to consider a
proposal that would require stores to keep cold medicines behind the
counter and to restrict the amount sold. Several legislators are working on
similar proposals.

Unlike Wisconsin, all neighboring states have laws regulating sales or
possession of cold medicines with pseudoephedrine, a common meth
ingredient, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

People can make meth with ingredients from cold medicine, brake fluid and
lithium batteries, and they can cook it up in small quantities in their homes.

Wisconsin law enforcement officials have busted an increasing number of
meth labs in recent years - from eight in 1999 to about 90 last year.

"These meth labs keep popping up in Wisconsin more and more frequently,"
said Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, chairman of the Criminal Justice and
Homeland Security Committee.

It became a problem in Wisconsin only in recent years after drug dealers
moved from Minnesota's Twin Cities to rural western Wisconsin, but it has
quickly evolved, Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager said.

"We've seen meth in places like Madison and Fox Valley," she said. "We've
seen it spread around."

In St. Croix County, hardest hit by the drug, officers handle 120 to 140
meth cases a year. Most of the county's burglaries, thefts and domestic
disturbances are related to meth, Sheriff Dennis Hillstead said.

Shawna Kovach, chairwoman of the Chippewa Valley Meth Task Force, said
people come to Wisconsin from other states specifically to buy Sudafed, a
cold medicine containing pseudoephedrine.

In Illinois, retailers can sell no more than two packages of cold medicines
containing pseudoephedrine in each transaction and need to place such
medicines behind the counter.

In Iowa and Minnesota, retailers can be liable if they sell cold medicines
knowing they will be used to make meth. Minnesota also is considering
legislation to allow only pharmacists to sell medicines containing
pseudoephedrine.

In Wisconsin, Rep. David Travis, D-Waunakee, wants to make cold medicines
available only through pharmacists.

"(Meth) is bad stuff. Imagine putting battery acid in your mouth," Travis
said. "The least we are trying to do here (is to) get rid of the kitchen labs."

He modeled his proposal after an Oklahoma law, the first in the nation to
require that cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine be dispensed by a
pharmacist.

Brandon Scholz, president and chief executive of the Wisconsin Grocers
Association, called the proposal "Draconian" and said it is not necessary
because "99.99 percent of the people that buy Sudafed and other cold
medicine products (do so) because they have a cold."

Still, he said members of his group are willing to put the cold medicines
behind the counter. Tom Engels, Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin spokesperson,
said pharmacists are willing to do whatever they can to curb the state's
meth problems.

About 20 states have introduced legislation regulating the sale of meth
ingredients this year. Blake Harrison, the National Conference of State
Legislatures' senior policy specialist in criminal justice, said
discrepancies among the states' meth laws have diminished in recent years.

"States are looking to see what their neighbors have done," he said.
Wisconsin passed a law two years ago making possession of meth a felony,
consistent with Minnesota law.

"We matched our penalties as close as we can to Minnesota, and that's
worked well," Suder said.

Sen. Sheila Harsdorf, R-River Falls, lead author of that legislation, is
working with some law enforcement officials and northwestern Wisconsin
legislators on more meth-fighting proposals for this legislative session.

"I think you are going to see a number of bills introduced because of the
seriousness of the problem," she said.