METH TASK FORCE WEIGHS REGULATIONS

Pseudoephedrine has two popular uses: it is the primary ingredient in
non-drowsy, over-the-counter cold and allergy decongestants; and it is
the primary ingredient used to produce most methamphetamine in Tennessee.

So on Monday, members of Gov. Phil Bredesen's Task Force on
Methamphetamine Abuse mulled over methods to get pseudoephedrine out
of the hands of meth producers.

Legislation limiting the purchase of pseudoephedrine products went
into effect in Oklahoma this April.

Scott Rowland, general counsel of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and
Dangerous Drugs, told the task force the number of
pseudoephedrine-based meth labs found in Oklahoma escalated from only
five or six in 1995 to 1,300 labs in 2003.

So Oklahoma made solid pseudoephedrine tablets a controlled substance,
available only in pharmacies and administrable only by a pharmacist or
pharmacist technician. They still don't require a doctor's
prescription, however. Customers can only purchase nine grams of a
pseudoephedrine product.

A person in Oklahoma charged with both manufacturing and using meth
cannot be released on bond. Because a meth addict is so attached to
the drug, setting him or her out on bond is "the legal equivalent of
putting a pathological liar on the honor system," Rowland said.

It may not be constitutionally permissible to deny bond in Tennessee,
however.

Oklahoma is also working to implement an electronic system for
tracking pseudoephedrine purchases, Rowland said.

He said that some local law enforcement officers in Oklahoma were
spending so much time tracking down meth labs that they weren't able
to deal with other important problems.

Rowland said Oklahoma expects a 50 to 60 percent reduction in the
number of meth labs as a result of the new legislation.

Eric Douglas, manager of state legislative relations for Walgreens,
told the task force the company is adapting to state meth laws and all
employees at Walgreens are being taught about state meth laws.

Douglas expressed some concern for the safety of pharmacists, however.
"We haven't had an incident yet, but we have had threatening remarks,"
Douglas added.

In Cookeville, Tenn., residents must sign a store registry whenever
they buy a product that contains pseudoephedrine, which law
enforcement officers check, according to State Senator Charlotte
Burks. As in Oklahoma, residents can only purchase a limited amount of
the product.

Crossville has passed a similar ordinance.

However, this past spring some state legislators expressed concerns
over customers' privacy under this method.

Walter Fitzgerald, a professor at the University of Tennessee College
of Pharmacy in Memphis, represented the Tennessee Pharmacists
Association. He noted that, already, wholesalers of pseudoephedrine
must file reports with the federal government whenever they sell
"suspicious orders" of pseudoephedrine to a retailer, and he suggested
that before the state establishes a registry, it restrict the sale of
pseudoephedrine products to licensed pharmacies.

Though the task force has until Sept. 1 to devise a comprehensive
strategy for dealing with the "meth epidemic" in Tennessee, it plans
to recommend soon that the Tennessee Department of Environment and
Conservation "establish a decontamination standard" for buildings
contaminated through methamphetamine production.