COUNTY MOVES FORWARD ON COLD MEDICINE REGULATIONS

CLINTON, Iowa -- The sale of cold medications containing pseudoephedrine
could be regulated soon in Clinton County and other border counties.

After discussing the issue Thursday, the Clinton County Board asked Clinton
County Attorney Mike Wolf to draw up an ordinance to regulate the sale of
the medication, which is one of the ingredients in making the illegal drug
methamphetamine.

Wolf, who brought the idea to the board, said county attorneys in the 7th
Judicial District have been asked to propose the regulations to their
county boards. The district includes Cedar, Clinton, Jackson, Muscatine and
Scott counties.

Wolf said one of the concerns is that new regulations going into effect
next month in Illinois would drive traffic to eastern Iowa for meth
ingredients. There currently is no state regulation in Iowa.

The proposal Wolf outlined would require retailers to put medications
containing pseudoephedrine behind the counter or in a locked case, limit
the sale to two packages per day and require anyone purchasing the
medications to present a photo ID and sign a log.

Wolf said there is no single solution to battling the meth problem, but
this could be a small effort to take away one of the ingredients. The
county attorney said addicts and drug makers probably would find ways to
get around the regulations, but it may stop some people from getting involved.

"From what I've seen, there's peer pressure and young people hanging around
together. It's easy for one person to tell the group 'I know to make it,' "
Wolf said. "Our goal is to maybe stop the younger people from having that
ability to get started."

Wolf added that if somebody is saying, " 'Let's have some fun, I can show
you how to do this,' no there's nothing to do 'cause we don't have the
ingredients."

The regulation still would not have an impact on meth or meth ingredients
being brought in from outside Clinton County.

The county board members and Wolf noted there would be a cost to retailers
to implement the regulations, which is something they wanted to find out.

The supervisors voted to have Wolf bring back an ordinance to consider. A
public hearing will be scheduled as part of the approval process.

Wolf told the county board that the regulations could be enforced
countywide, including towns in the county.

In another proposal, Wolf asked the board to consider a plan to require all
contractors in the county to be licensed and bonded. The county attorney
said he sees too many cases of people being hired to do work and either
"don't know how or never intended to do it."

The board gave the county attorney permission to hold a series of public
forums on the issue to gather public input. There was no timetable established.