MISSOURI SENATOR TAKES METH FIGHT NATIONAL WITH COMBAT METH ACT

The Federal Legislation Would Provide Funds To Combat Meth Makers.

JACKSON -- Sen. Jim Talent, R-Mo., visited the Cape Girardeau County
Sheriff's Department on Thursday to promote his bipartisan Combat Meth Act,
a bill that would force pseudoephedrine-containing drugs behind the
pharmacist's counter.

The legislation, sponsored by Talent and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.,
is similar to a law already in place in Oklahoma.

The legislation would classify pseudoephedrine as a class five drug,
meaning it could only be sold by a pharmacist or pharmacy technician. A
prescription would not be needed.

Buyers would be able to purchase up to 6 grams of the product at one time
and 9 grams over a 30-day period. They would be required to present proof
of identification and sign for the medicine upon purchase.

Oklahoma's methamphetamine legislation became law on April 7. Lonnie
Wright, director of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs,
said the law has had a dramatic effect on lab seizures in the state.

There are three sets of numbers by which Oklahoma law enforcement agencies
calculate meth lab seizures. According to one of those sets, meth lab busts
dropped to 57 in April, when the bill became law, from 105 in March.

There was a 60-day transition period for pharmacies to move the drugs
behind counters. By November, the number of meth lab busts dropped to 19.

"Then we looked at how those labs were sourced," Wright said. "And they
were clearly coming from out-of-state sources."

Cape Girardeau County Sheriff John Jordan said once the law hit Oklahoma,
some Dollar General stores in Southwest Missouri stopped selling
pseudoephedrine medications because they were being burglarized almost nightly.

That's why federal legislation is important, Talent said on Thursday.

Talent said he supports the Missouri bill, but that will only push the
problem over to Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas.

Jordan said he's confident the legislation will pass in Missouri.

Not Stopping Production

Talent said even national legislation would not stop production of
methamphetamine.

"But it will stop the mom and pop cooks who can't get pseudoephedrine out
of Mexico, who can't hijack a truck," Talent said. "It takes about 600
tablets to make anything substantial and this will get the labs out of the
neighborhoods."

The legislation will do more than force pseudoephedrine drugs behind the
counters.

It would pour $30 million in federal money into the methamphetamine fight.

Talent said the federal plan faces some opposition from a retail
association. He said legitimate concerns will be addressed, but legislation
won't be stopped because retail stores are concerned about losing profits
from illegitimate purchases.

Pharmacists in Oklahoma haven't voiced a large number of complaints,
according to Phil Woodward, the director of the state's pharmacist
association. He said there were a few complaints from retail stores about
the switch because of space and logistic reasons.

Other than that, Woodward said, "it's been a pretty smooth transition."

[SIDEBAR]

If passed, the Combat Meth Act would:

- - Provide an additional $15 million for training investigation, equipment,
prosecution and environmental cleanup.

- - Provide $5 million to hire and train additional federal prosecutors and
cross-designate the local prosecutors as special assistant U.S. attorneys
who could bring legal action in federal courts.

- - Amend the Controlled Substances Act to limit and record the sale of
medicines containing pseudoephedrine by placing them behind the pharmacy
counter.

- - Provide $5 million for businesses that legally sell ingredients used to
cook meth with resources to monitor purchases of pseudoephedrine. The money
would also be used to train and provide technical assistance to law
enforcement and to businesses that legally sell items containing
pseudoephedrine.

- - Provide $5 million in grant funding for rapid response teams which assist
and educate children that have been affected by the production of meth.

- - Create a Methamphetamine Research, Training and Technical Assistance
Center which will research effective treatments for meth abuse and provide
information and assistance to states and private entities on how to improve
current treatment methods.