RESTRICT DRUG COMPONENT SALES, PROSECUTOR TELLS SUBCOMMITTEE

The sale of cold medicines that contain essential methamphetamine
ingredients should be restricted in Arkansas, following the lead of
surrounding states that have controlled drug-component sales, a local
prosecutor told a congressional subcommittee this week. David Gibbons of
Clarksville, the prosecuting attorney for the Fifth Judicial District, said
over-the-counter cold medication containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine
should be distributed by pharmacists rather than from store shelves, a move
that would likely reduce drug makers' access to the substances. Those
components are major ingredients used to manufacture methamphetamine, the
most-used illegal drug in Arkansas. Gibbons was testifying before the House
Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources in
Bentonville Monday, as one of a handful of experts in the tracking of
methamphetamine production and use invited to testify during the four-hour
hearing. Congressman Mark Souder of Indiana, the chairman of the
subcommittee, hosted the hearing Monday, along with U.S. Rep. John Boozman,
Arkansas' 3rd District representative. Boozman said Souder has acknowledged
that Arkansas has a significant methamphetamine problem.

Gibbons told Souder and Boozman that methamphetamine cooks use
over-the-counter could medications, such as Sudafed and Claritin D, to make
their product, traveling to multiple retail stores to get enough pills to
make methamphetamine. He said nine grams of pseudoephedrine will normally
make 4.5 to 7 grams of methamphetamine. Gibbons said "a stake would be
driven through the heart of the methamphetamine problem" in his district if
Congress passed legislation requiring ephedrine or pseudoephedrine to be
only dispensed by a licensed pharmacist or a licensed pharmacist
technician. "If pseudoephedrine and ephedrine can be made inaccessible to
cooks, they simply cannot synthesize methamphetamine," Gibbons said through
a written statement entered into the Congressional Record. "Again, without
pseudoephedrine or ephedrine, it is impossible to make methamphetamine."
Gibbons testified that the number of methamphetamine cases prosecuted by
his office have risen astoundingly since 1997, based on the fact the drug
is relatively easy to make. Through May of this year, more methamphetamine
cases have been identified by his office than the entire 2001 year. "The
use, distribution and manufacture of methamphetamine is a pervasive and
malignant problem which puts a tremendous strain on the criminal justice
system in the Fifth District," Gibbons said, adding that a majority of the
cases he prosecutes involve methamphetamine. He cited five specific aspects
of methamphetamine that strains his office: -- An inordinate amount of
manpower is required to investigate labs and to prepare and execute search
warrants.

- -- An inordinate amount of manpower and resources are required for the
clean-up of lab sites.

- -- Methamphetamine labs require extensive crime laboratory analysis because
of the number of items recovered in meth labs. -- Trials typically take two
or three times as long as trials required for drug possession or delivery
cases.

- -- Prison systems are typically, and justifiably, longer, putting a strain
on the prison system.

Boozman credited Gibbons for his testimony and knowledge, saying Gibbons
was "on the front lines" of combating the methamphetamine problem in the
state. "David did an excellent job of explaining the tremendous amount of
manpower it takes from the time the meth lab is discovered until the time
the case is prosecuted," Boozman said. "I wanted people like David Gibbons
to testify at this hearing — people who are out fighting this battle on a
day-to-day basis." While in Congress, Boozman has advocated a three-prong
approach to solve the state's illegal drug problem: Education or demand
reduction, strong punishments for offenders and rehabilitation of addicts.

He said the three-pronged approach reflects "a balanced, proactive policy
that encourages people not to use drugs and gives addicts a chance to
change their lives." Boozman is a member of the Speaker's Task Force for a
Drug-Free America and the Congressional Caucus to Fight and Control
Methamphetamine. The field hearing focused on the problem of
methamphetamine in Arkansas. Public officials and representatives from
non-governmental organizations testified about every aspect of Arkansas'
fight against methamphetamine abuse including enforcement, treatment and
prevention. Their testimony was permanently recorded in the Congressional
Record, just as if they had testified in front of the committee in
Washington, D.C.