STIFFER RULES ON SALE OF PSEUDOEPHEDRINES USED TO FIGHT METH

In an effort to combat the methamphetamine epidemic in Oklahoma, Gov.
Brad Henry signed a bill into law on April 6 that designated
pseudoephedrine tablets as a controlled dangerous substance and
stiffened penalties for the sale, distribution and possession of
pseudoephedrine.

One section of the new law requires a purchaser of pseudoephedrine to
sign a log and present a photo ID prior to sale at a licensed Oklahoma
pharmacy. It also limited the amount of pseudoephedrine an individual
can buy within a 30-day period.

Gel capsules, liquid capsules and liquid preparations would be exempt
from this law.

The law went into effect after Oklahoma law enforcement agencies
seized 1,254 meth labs in 2003, placing the state among the leaders in
meth labs, per capita. The number represents a 12,000 percent increase
since 1994 when 10 labs were seized when the "nazi method" of cooking
meth first appeared in Oklahoma in 1994.

According to Brian Surber of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, it
costs an average of $3,500 per lab in clean-up fees. With a drop of
124 labs, the state realized a savings of $434,000 during the last
year. Additional savings have also been seen in the number of law
enforcement man hours spent at lab sites.

Surber is a former Kay County, Okla., assistant district attorney. He
said the rural county borders the state of Kansas which had tougher
meth laws than Oklahoma until April. Before the law was passed, Surber
averaged eight lab seizures a month in Kay County. Since April, the
number of seizures dropped to one each month.

The numbers between Oklahoma and Tennessee are similar. Between
October 2003 and August 2004, Tennessee law enforcement agencies
seized nearly 1,200 labs, a 397 percent increase since 2000.

Surber, who was in Nashville in September to teach a seminar to law
enforcement officers from the Southeast said Oklahoma was the first
state in the nation to pass such stringent laws regulating the sale of
pseudoephedrine.

He expects Tennessee to be the second.

In spite of the numbers in man hours, labs and the lives meth
destroyed, it took the death of Oklahoma Highway Patrolman Nik Green,
to get the bill through the legislature, according to Surber.

The patrolman, who is the namesake of the bill, was killed in December
2003 during a struggle with a meth cook. The trooper's body microphone
captured the audio portion of the struggle.

Surber said the pharmaceutical lobby in Oklahoma City nearly stopped
the bill, but "we'd just had enough."

The bill required businesses other than pharmacies to stop selling
pseudoephedrine tablets. These businesses were required to remove the
tablets from the shelves and place them in a secure location. They
were then given 30 days to return the product or contact law
enforcement to take possession of the remaining inventory for
destruction.

Eventually, all pharmacies will be connected to a centralized computer
database at Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics for tracking tablet
pseudoephedrine sales to ensure clients are not exceeding the limit of
nine grams in a 30-day period without a prescription. Until then,
Oklahoma pharmacies were given 60 days to place all pseudoephedrine
tablets behind the counter and enact an in-store program for logging
tablet pseudoephedrine sales.

The Oklahoma law made it illegal to dispense, sell or distribute any
compound, mixture or preparation containing any detectable quantity of
pseudoephedrine except a licensed pharmacist or licensed pharmacy technician.

. Anyone purchasing pseudoephedrine must show a photo ID with the date
of birth and sign a written log showing the date, name and amount purchased.

. A person may not purchase more than nine grams within a 30-day
period.

. Anyone convicted of manufacturing 50 grams or more of
methamphetamine can be sentenced for not less than 20 years to life
and a fine of $50,000. The time served must be at least 85 percent of
the sentence. Once sentenced, there are no provisions for suspended or
deferred sentences or probation.

. A person convicted of a second offense will be considered a habitual
offender.