LEGISLATION CRACKS DOWN ON METH BY LOCKING UP SUDAFED

Lawmakers Think Tightening Access To The Drug Could Curb Meth Production In
The State

How much inconvenience are you willing endure to buy a package of Sudafed?

Will you show identification and sign a log at a pharmacy just to take home
the common cold medication?

This year's Georgia General Assembly is considering statewide tight
restrictions on access to cold and sinus remedies that contain
pseudoephedrine, an ingredient used to make methamphetamine, an illegal,
homemade stimulant.

The goal is to curb meth makers from buying cold medication.

Signs in drugstores already remind shoppers the federal government limits
how much pseudoephedrine they can buy at a time.

But the proposed restrictions, which vary according to the different bills,
further limit how the medications are sold.

The most strict versions call for removing over-the-counter cold pills from
store shelves in Georgia and requiring them to be dispensed only by a
pharmacist.

Two bills, Senate Bill 24 and House Bill 19, also call for buyers of such
common cold medicines as Sudafed, NyQuil, Claritin-D and Tylenol Flu, to
show photo ID and sign a log maintained by a pharmacy.

Less severe proposals would require the cold medication to be kept behind
the counter or in a locked cabinet.

The restrictions are examples of an emerging class of pharmaceuticals, "the
behind-the-counter drug," said Emily Evans, assistant professor of Pharmacy
Practice at South University School of Pharmacy in Savannah.

This level drug is made available, without a prescription, via a health
care professional to regulate conditions such as amount or age
restrictions, Evans said.

The Food and Drug Administration is considering putting the morning-after
birth control in that same class.

Makers of the emergency contraception known as Plan B want it to be
available without a prescription to women age 16 and older. The company
proposes drugstores check customers' ages.

The goal is to help those who need it over a weekend when it's difficult to
obtain a prescription. Plan B can prevent pregnancy for up to 72 hours
after sex. It's more effective the sooner it's taken.

Implementing tough restrictions on certain cold medicines may be a
knee-jerk reaction, Evans said, but "it certainly will at least reduce the
problem."

Especially since meth ingredients, which include common household drain
cleaner and starter fluid, are as close as the nearest Wal-Mart.

After adopting similar restrictions last year, Oklahoma has reported an 80
percent drop in meth labs, said Micah Ward, Georgia Bureau of Investigation
special agent in charge in Savannah. Oklahoma classified pseudoephedrine as
a Schedule 5 narcotic, similar to cough syrup with codeine, to be dispensed
only by a pharmacist.

Restrictions may have a similar benefit in southeast Georgia, where meth -
also known as crystal, crank and speed - is taking hold, especially in
rural areas.

"We've seen it move from the West coast to the Midwest, dropped into north
Georgia, and increase in middle Georgia," Ward said. "That trend is just
going to continue into southeast Georgia."

In a 12-day period this winter, agents found three meth labs in three
southeast Georgia counties, Chatham, Candler and Toombs, Ward said. Each
personal-use meth lab involves at least 100 cold pills per batch of meth.

"The amount is what differentiates the legitimate from the illegitimate,"
Ward said. "There is no reason to buy 500 cold pills at a time."

John Leffler, pharmacist at The Prescription Shop in Savannah, supports the
proposed restrictions and doesn't expect them to have much impact on
legitimate use of cold medicines. That pharmacy already keeps large
packages of medicine with pseudoephedrine in a cabinet behind the counter.

"There are going to be a few people who see this as an infringement of
trade and of rights to access," Leffler said.

Although the majority of pharmacists don't want to hinder people, they also
don't want to sell this product in large amounts for illegitimate purposes,
he said.

Opposition is more likely to come from owners of the 5,500 convenience
stores in Georgia that stand to suffer financially if only pharmacists can
sell cold pills.

Cold medications generate roughly $6,000 a year in sales per convenience
store, said Jeff Leonard, spokesman for the National Association of
Convenience Stores in Alexandria, Va. Hiring a pharmacist for just those
products is not a good economic trade-off, he said.

The Georgia Association of Convenience Stores in Snellville recognizes the
serious meth problem and wants to be part of the solution, said president
Jim Tudor. He expects some restrictions to be put in place, but said it's
too early in the legislative process to determine how those will affect
convenience stores.

"The idea of trying to put restrictions on availability of these products
is something we will work with the state on," Tudor said. "But you never
want to be in the convenience business and for there to be products you
can't sell."

Locking UP Meds

Several bills before the Georgia General Assembly would restrict the sales
of cold medicine to crack down on makers of methamphetamine. Some proposals
call for:

l Products with pseudoephedrine to be kept behind the counter, in a locked
cabinet, or in another secure location.

l Products with pseudoephedrine to be dispensed only by a licensed
pharmacist or a pharmacy technician working under the supervision of a
licensed pharmacist.

l Purchasers of such products to produce photo identification and sign a
written log showing their signature, printed name, date of transaction and
type and amount of product purchased. That data would be maintained by the
person dispensing the product for a year.

Meth Facts

Methamphetamine: a stimulant that's a potent member of the phetamine family.

Street names: speed, chalk, ice, crystal, glass and crank.

The look: Meth comes as pills, powder, or as clear chunky crystals. The
crystals are another form of methamphetamine that contains a substance
called hydrochloride.

Production: Meth is mostly made in illegal laboratories using toxic chemicals.

Health effects: Mental confusion, severe anxiety, paranoia, aggression that
can result in violent behavior. There's a direct relationship between meth
use and domestic violence and child abuse.

Meth use: It can be swallowed, snorted, huffed, injected or smoked.

Source: U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration