METH, MEDICINE AND PHARMACISTS

Americans have good reason to worry about the methamphetamine scourge
sweeping much of Indiana and many other rural parts of the nation,
leaving lives damaged and destroyed. It's natural for responsible
lawmakers like Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh to want to take action.

Making it harder to buy cold medicine is not the answer.

Bayh has co-sponsored legislation that would require medicines
containing pseudoephedrine -- the active ingredient in decongestants
- -- to be taken off the shelf and sold, literally over the counter.
Buyers would have to show ID and sign their name. A licensed
pharmacist or pharmacy technician would have to hand the medicine to
the buyer. Quantities would be limited to five packages. An Indiana
House committee has approved similar restrictions.

Meth "cooks" will find ways to get around the law. They may use
multiple false IDs to obtain the medicine at multiple locations; they
may assign friends or pay agents to obtain the medicine; they may find
illegal sources of pseudoephedrine; or they may find an alternative to
pseudoephedrine.

Already, meth cooks find ways to obtain another restricted ingredient,
iodine crystals. Yet another ingredient, red phosphorus, cannot be
purchased in bulk, so some meth cooks get it off matchbook covers.

So far, lawmakers haven't talked about signing for matchbook covers.
There is no pending legislation to restrict the sale of Coleman fuel,
drain cleaner and other common meth ingredients.

Like many other failed efforts to stem drug use, this plan will cause
the majority of people who don't abuse drugs greater inconvenience
while failing to accomplish its goal. People with colds or allergies
who now can simply pick up a bottle off the shelf will be forced to
stand in a drug counter line and prove their innocence by signing for
a perfectly legal medicine. Pharmacies will have a higher workload. If
retailers have to hire more employees to sell the same amount of
product, that will only raise prices for everyone.

U.S. Rep. Mark Souder's concerns that Bayh's proposal would result in
fewer decongestant products and hurt retailers are legitimate. And his
suggestion that sales of decongestants containing pseudoephedrine be
limited to two packages without the requirement of signing for them
over the counter would accomplish much of what Bayh wants to do
without as much inconvenience to customers and no increased workload
for pharmacies.

The best tool against meth use and other harmful drugs is accurate
education and more options for rehabilitation. Users and potential
users need to be informed of the very real dangers of meth use and
production. The public should be informed of the signs of
methamphetamine production. And more low-cost drug treatment options
need to be available.

Officials who want to reduce the manufacturing and use of
methamphetamine have an undeniably worthy goal. Making it harder to
buy and sell decongestants will inconvenience people with colds and
allergies and create more work for retailers. Methamphetamine makers,
on the other hand, will simply adjust their tactics.