PSEUDOEPHEDRINE

THERE IS no debate about the problems presented by methamphetamine in
Oklahoma. Cheap, easy to make and highly addictive, use of the drug is
rampant and its effects chilling. The suspect in last month's fatal
shooting of an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper in Cotton County is the
father of five and a former firefighter whose life, according to
former associates, spiraled as the result of using meth. In Sequoyah
County, a second trial is under way for a man charged with killing a
trooper during a meth drug raid in 1999.

Oklahoma law officers seized more than 1,200 meth labs in 2002,
compared with just 10 in 1994. Cleaning up meth labs is dangerous and
costly. The number of people in jail or prison on methamphetamine-related
charges continues to soar.

No wonder the Oklahoma State Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs
Control backs proposed legislation that would make it tougher to buy
products that contain pseudoephedrine, which is found in everyday
over-the-counter cold medicine but also is also an ingredient used in
making meth.

The proposal, still in draft form, would require products containing
pseudoephedrine to be sold only at pharmacies, although no
prescription would be needed. That change would affect convenience
store owners, whose reactions to the idea have been mixed. Officials
with Git-n-Go and Love's Travel Stops and Country Stores have said
they wouldn't oppose such legislation; a spokesman for QuikTrip said
the company doesn't like the idea; the head of a state trade group
says he prefers education over legislation.

Residents of the state's metropolitan areas can get access to
pharmacies nearly around the clock. But the proposal would pinch rural
Oklahomans who rely more heavily on convenience stores and small grocers.

Perhaps legislation isn't needed, and instead efforts could be ramped
up within the industry to ensure that store employees simply don't
sell large quantities of cold and sinus medications to patrons. But
given the scope of the meth problem in Oklahoma, this issue clearly
merits further attention and discussion.