RETAILERS TO JOIN DRUG FIGHT

Attorney General Wants Labels On 'Meth Watch' Medicines

COLUMBIA - South Carolina's attorney general wants the help of retailers to
fight the battle against methamphetamine.

Some stores and pharmacies already are restricting more than 100 different
over-the-counter medicines with pseudoephedrine, used to make the illegal
drug commonly called meth.

As early as five years ago, megaretailer Wal-Mart began limiting the
quantities of medicines with pseudoephedrine. Others such as Walgreens,
CVS/pharmacy and Eckerd followed suit.

But with the dramatic increase of clandestine meth labs in the state, S.C.
Attorney General Henry McMaster wants retailers to extend restrictions
beyond medicines.

In the next year, McMaster wants store shelves across the state peppered
with "Meth Watch" warning labels to alert shoppers that only a limited
amount of certain products used to make meth - such as rock salt or lithium
batteries - can be bought at any one time.

"It would all be voluntary, but the stickers would be a reminder, a
deterrent that plays off the paranoia the drug feeds," McMaster said.

As part of the initiative, stores also might place Meth Watch decals on
store doors and registers and have brochures and information sheets on hand
for customers.

Jim Hatchell, president of the S.C. Merchants Association, said retailers
in South Carolina will largely support the Meth Watch idea as long as
legitimate customers are not unreasonably inconvenienced and there is
uniformity throughout the state.

"We do a pretty good job self-policing, but something statewide with teeth
would be even better," said Hatchell, whose association's membership
includes drugstores, grocery stores and retailers with pharmacies, among
others.

The family medicine cabinet, kitchen cupboards and even home garages hold
many ingredients needed to cook up concoctions for illicit use.

Some of the products used to make meth include acetone, rubbing and
isopropyl alcohol, iodine, starter fluid, drain cleaner, paint thinner and
aluminum foil.

The relative ease in gathering the ingredients used in making the drug is
the reason the meth problem is growing in the state, McMaster said.

Although McMaster thinks the numbers are underreported, South Carolina had
fewer than 10 meth labs in 2001. That number grew to about 130 in 2003, and
about 100 meth labs already have been found this year.

The synthetic drug can be produced as pills, capsules or powder that can be
smoked, snorted, injected or swallowed. The drug can lead to stroke, and
chronic use can inflame the lining of the heart. Overdoses can cause death.