BERMAN WANTS TOUGH LAW FOR METH COOKS

Meth cooks may soon find themselves with a shortage of ingredients for
their favorite recipes.

That's the goal of state Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, who is pursuing a
bill that would add extra bite to laws governing both methamphetamine
use and production.

The representative is proposing to attack the problem in two ways - by
preventing meth cooks from getting the ingredients they need to make
the drugs, and putting convicted offenders in prison longer.

If his plan is actually put into law, convictions will carry even
stiffer penalties if it is determined a drug lab is operated in the
presence of children, the lawmaker said this week.

"This problem is reaching epidemic proportions," Berman said. "It's an
almost incurable addiction. This drug ages you and rots your teeth -
it's so easy to make, people can even make it in their cars.

"The purpose of this bill is to cut off the supply of pseudoephedrine,
which is found in allergy and cold medications such as Sudafed and
Actifed," Berman said. "This law would take non-liquid products
containing pseudoephedrine and take them off the shelves of any store
in Texas that does not have a pharmacy and put them behind the counter."

After the supplies are sold, non-pharmacy stores would be unable to
restock with tablet versions of medications that contain
pseudoephedrine.

"We're going to prohibit them from selling non-liquid forms," Berman
said.

The plan models a law passed earlier in Oklahoma, which is credited
with curtailing meth production by as much as 50 percent, Berman said,
noting his version holds offenders accountable for exposing children
to unnecessary risk.

Under Berman's current proposal, sales of medications containing
pseudoephedrine would be limited to a single box per customer, roughly
9 grams. That means all non-pharmacy businesses, including some 10,000
convenience stores, would regulate sales, thereby making it more
difficult for people to buy mass amounts of the over-the-counter drugs.

Berman said his bill does not apply to liquid versions of the cold
meds, only the tablets. It's the solid version of the medications that
serves as the primary component to methamphetamine, officials said.

Cooks aren't readily using the liquid version of the drug because it
complicates production.

"What we have proposed is 15-year sentences for first convictions,"
Berman said, "And 30-year sentences for second convictions."

If children are present during production, the penalties are worst
because the labs pose extreme environmental hazards.

The bill proposes that first convictions carry a prison term of 20
years with multiple convictions carrying a maximum penalty of 40 years.

Bond amounts range from $300,000 for the first arrest and $500,000 if
kids are present, the proposal states.

Current penalties for convictions include shorter terms and supervised
release programs, depending on the amount of the drug.

The plan has already received some bipartisan support, including
licensed pharmacist Leticia Van De Putte, D-San Antonio, who is
working with Berman to fine-tune the measure before it is submitted
for consideration.

Berman acknowledged Tuesday the proposed measure has long-reaching
effects that can bring added hardship on an already overcrowded prison
system, which supports about 150,000 inmates.

Discussions are already under way to identify potential bed space at
county facilities, Berman said.

There's also talk of diverting minor offenders, such as those arrested
for possessing small amounts of marijuana, into supervised release
programs rather than send them to prison.

"We're not going to worry about bed space," Berman said. "We'll make
the accommodations."

OKLAHOMA SUCCESS

Texas has seen an increase in pseudoephedrine sales after Oklahoma
passed a law in April, placing pseudoephedrine tablets on the list of
"controlled dangerous substances."

Oklahoma's House Bill 2176 requires a purchaser's signature and photo
I.D. prior to sale of the tablet form of the drug at any licensed pharmacy.

Gel and liquid capsules, and liquid preparations are exempt from the
law.

In that version of the bill, businesses other than pharmacies were
ordered to immediately remove the tablets and place them in a secure
location until they could be returned to the company or turned into
law enforcement. Since it was adopted, the number of meth labs dropped
sharply, the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics said.

By September, Oklahoma authorities were touting a nearly 50-percent
decrease in the number of clandestine meth lab seizures, prompting the
governor to urge neighboring states to adopt similar measures.

"Nationwide success in stopping the methamphetamine epidemic will come
from a unified effort of states limiting access to key ingredients,"
Okla. Gov. Brad Henry said of the decrease.

The reduction also means taxpayers dollars are being saved on cleanup
costs, officials said.

Drug enforcement experts closer to home appear hopeful a similar
measure will pass the scrutiny of Texas lawmakers.

"The DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) does support the efforts of
Representative Berman and his colleagues to initiate legislation to
benefit communities by restricting access to pseudoephedrine tablets,
which have been clearly shown to be used to manufacture
methamphetamine," said Gary G. Olenkiewicz, special agent in charge,
Dallas Field Division, DEA.

Last month, Gov. Rick Perry referenced Berman's bill during a stop in
Tyler to announce a $50,000 grant was being given to East Texas to
fund "Meth Watch," a program that trains retailers to recognize
suspicious customers, including those who purchase large quantities of
the ingredients.

Funding for the effort comes from the governor's Criminal Justice
Division.

"In East Texas, there are a lot of places you can hide a drug
manufacturing facility," Perry said.

The governor's office reports that 710 methamphetamine labs were
seized throughout the state in 2003 - and of those 91 were in East
Texas.