SENATE, HOUSE AT LOGGERHEADS OVER ANTI-METH PROPOSALS

DES MOINES - Iowa senators forged ahead Tuesday with legislation placing
limits on the sale of a common cold remedy that is also a key
methamphetamine ingredient. Supporters of the bill insist it strikes a
delicate balance between public safety concerns and free enterprise.

But that desire for compromise has put the Senate at odds with the House,
which is considering tougher measures.

In both chambers, lawmakers are taking aim at pseudoephedrine - a nasal
decongestant found in dozens of cold and flu medications. It also is used
to make meth in hundreds of secret, makeshift labs.

Limiting access to pseudoephedrine, law enforcement officials say, would
help shut down many of those labs. Last year, local and state law
enforcement officers seized more than 1,300 labs as Iowa's meth problem
continued to fill jails and drug-treatment facilities.

But lawmakers have yet to settle on a strategy. They are caught between
meth-fighters who want tough limits and retailers who argue that such
limits would deny consumers access to legal medications.

"What seems like a simple problem to solve sometimes has many
ramifications," said Sen. David Miller, R-Batavia, co-chairman of the
Judiciary Committee.

A bill approved Tuesday by Miller's panel would designate any product
containing more than 360 milligrams of pseudoephedrine in a single package
as a Schedule V controlled substance. Those products could be dispensed
only by pharmacists and only after consumers displayed valid identification
and signed a logbook.

But products with 360 milligrams or less could be sold in other retail
outlets as long as they were kept behind the counter or under lock and key
to thwart theft. A 4-ounce bottle of pediatric cold medicine, for example,
contains 360 milligrams.

In all cases, consumers would be limited to purchasing no more than two
packages in a 24-hour period and no more than 6,000 milligrams within 30
days. Retailers would be required to keep track of those purchases and
prepare detailed audit reports for state law enforcement agencies.

The bill was approved unanimously by the Judiciary Committee. Sen. Bob
Brunkhorst, R-Waverly, helped craft the measure and said it limits access
while also ensuring that consumers - especially in rural areas - still can
buy medicine.

"I want to make sure a family with a kid that's sick can get cold medicine
on a weekend or at night," he said.

But the Senate bill stops short of slapping a Schedule V label on all
products containing pseudoephedrine, limiting their sale to pharmacies
only. Gov. Tom Vilsack has asked for such a bill and the House appears
poised to push one forward.

Rep. Clel Baudler, R-Greenfield, a former state trooper and chairman of the
House Public Safety Committee, supports a full-blown Schedule V
restriction. Baudler said he might make some exceptions for retail stores
without a pharmacist, but he would not allow those stores to sell more than
240 milligrams per customer.

Baudler expects his committee to vote Thursday on a Schedule V measure. But
he is uncertain what happens after that.

"This is an unusual place. It's like herding 150 cats in one direction," he
said. "I'm confident something will happen."

Milligrams matter in the debate over pseudoephedrine. Baudler said it takes
1,000 30-milligram pseudoephedrine tablets to cook a "large" ounce of meth.

So, under the Senate bill, which allows for the purchase of 720 milligrams,
a group of four meth-makers would have to stop at 10 different stores to
get enough pseudoephedrine to cook an ounce of meth. If the limit were 240
milligrams, it would take roughly 31 stops.

And although the Senate is seeking to address retailers' concerns, Jerry
Fleagle, the president of the Iowa Grocery Industry Association, contends
the bill still would force many small, rural storeowners to stop selling
most cold medications.

Fleagle said mom-and-pop stores would struggle to keep the kind of detailed
purchase records required by the bill.

"In essence, they're asking the retailers to become policemen," he said.

[Sidebar]

The Plan

* Schedule V - Products containing more than 360 milligrams of
pseudoephedrine would be classified as a Schedule V controlled substance,
which only pharmacists could dispense. Consumers would be limited to buying
two packages in a 24-hour period and no more than 6,000 milligrams within a
30-day period unless they had a prescription.

* Lock and key - Products with less than 360 milligrams could be sold by
grocers, convenience stores and other retailers, but the medicines would
have to be kept in a locked cabinet or behind the counter. Consumer
purchases also would be limited to two packages in 24 hours.

* Logbook - Anyone purchasing a product containing pseudoephedrine would be
required to display government-issued identification and enter their name
and address in a logbook. Law enforcement officers would have access to the
logbook.

* Audits - Retailers would be required to conduct audits detailing
pseudoephedrine sales and provide that information to the Iowa Department
of Public Safety.

* Penalties - Retailers violating the law would face fines ranging from
$300 for a first offense to $3,000 for a fourth offense during a three-year
period, along with a ban on selling those products. Employees breaking the
law would face a $250 fine.