SENATE OKS DECONGESTANT RULES

Legislation Intended To Curtail Methamphetamine Manufacturing Took A
Major Step Monday Toward Becoming Law. Meth Bill Passes Senate

State senators voted 45-0 for House Bill 2176 which restricts purchases of
decongestants that contain an ingredient for meth production.

BACKGROUND: The bill is the first of its kind in the nation.

WHAT'S NEXT: The House will be asked to accept the Senate amendments, then
the bill likely will be sent to Gov. Brad Henry.

State senators voted 45-0 for House Bill 2176 by Sen. Dick Wilkerson
to restrict purchases of decongestants that contain an ingredient for
meth production, which has become a major epidemic in Oklahoma, law
officers say.

Rep. John Nance, the bill's House author, said he will ask the House
this week to accept the Senate amendments and then send the measure to
Gov. Brad Henry, who wants to sign it into law.

Nance, R-Bethany, said he doesn't see how anyone could object to this
bill, which passed the House easily earlier and passed the Senate on
Monday.

"Oklahoma was first in the nation last year in the number of per
capita methamphetamine lab seizures," said Wilkerson, D-Atwood. "This
is an addiction-driven problem that is like a cancer eating away at
communities across the state. We need to do everything we can to stop
meth in its tracks."

The bill would make pseudoephedrine tablets a schedule V substance
that can be sold only at licensed pharmacies.

Oklahomans buying this in tablet form must show a photo identification
and sign for the drug.

Consumers would be restricted to buying no more than 9 grams, or the
equivalent of 12 boxes of the drug over a 30-day period.

Pharmacies would be required to keep a log of the purchasers.

Gel caps and liquids used as decongestants are exempt.

Decongestants with pseudoephedrine currently are sold without any
restrictions at retail outlets, including convenience stores.

When the bill went through a Senate committee, senators were told that
during a six-month period in Oklahoma, a convenience store sold $4,000
worth of soda pop and $70,000 worth of a decongestant with
pseudoephedrine.

The amendments that were made to the bill and will be accepted by
Nance include changing the name of the bill and exempting doctor's
prescriptions for pseudoephedrine products from the
legislation.

The bill originally was named the "Trooper Nik Green Act" in memory of
Green, who was killed in December when he encountered a suspect that
police said was cooking meth on the side of the road in Cotton County.

The Senate amended it in committee to include the names of deceased
troopers Rocky Eales and Matthew Evans. Eales was killed in 1999 in
raid in Sequoyah County. Evans was killed in 2000 in a high-speed
chase in Oklahoma City.