TOUGH RESTRICTIONS ON COLD MEDICINES BECOME LAW

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Some of the nation's toughest restrictions on
the retail display and sale of certain cold and allergy medicines were
signed into Missouri law Tuesday in an attempt to crack down on
methamphetamine production.

The legislation targets over-the-counter medications containing
pseudoephedrine, a decongestant that is also a key ingredient in making the
highly addictive and illegal stimulant methamphetamine.

Also signed into law was legislation making it a felony -- punishable by up
to life in prison -- to manufacture drugs in a home with children or within
one-half mile of a school. Currently, it is a felony to sell drugs close to
schools or when children are present.

Both bills were signed into law by Lt. Gov. Joe Maxwell, who was filling in
for Gov. Bob Holden, who was out of the state.

In Missouri, one of the national centers of methamphetamine production, law
enforcement agencies seized 2,725 clandestine meth labs last year -- the
highest number in the nation.

"Missouri has emerged as a national leader in the use of deadly
methamphetamine drugs," Maxwell said. "I'm hopeful that we can decrease
Missouri's status by implementing these much-needed laws."

Under the retail display law, medicines with pseudoephedrine as the sole
active ingredient would have to be kept behind a counter or within 10 feet
of a cashier, or be tagged with electronic anti-theft devices. One such
medicine is the brand-name decongestant Sudafed.

The rule on displaying pseudoephedrine medicines is intended to deter
potential thieves.

The Consumer Healthcare Products Association, which represents companies
that make or distribute over-the-counter medicines, has said no other state
places such a restriction on the display of Sudafed and similar drugs.

There also will be limits on how much pseudoephedrine could be bought in a
single transaction.

A maximum of two packages, or 6 grams, of medicine with pseudoephedrine as
the sole active ingredient could be bought at one time. For medicines
containing pseudoephedrine plus other active ingredients, the
single-purchase maximum would be three packages, or 9 grams.

Those provisions also would be among the toughest in the nation. North
Dakota enacted a two-package limit on pseudoephedrine medicines earlier
this year and prohibited sales to anyone younger than 18.

Ron Leone, executive director of the Missouri Petroleum Marketers and
Convenience Store Association, said his group was pleased with the legislation.

"I think we struck a good balance between protecting the consumer and
providing flexibility to the retailer," Leone said Tuesday.

The law also would make it a felony to release anhydrous ammonia -- a
fertilizer also used in meth production -- into the atmosphere. A release
that caused death or serious physical injury would result in even tougher
criminal penalties under the bill.

"Hopefully, the signing and enactment of this law will give law enforcement
the resources and tools in the fight against the scourge of
methamphetamine," said Rep. Rob Mayer, R-Dexter, one of the bill's sponsors.

The second bill signed into law Tuesday makes it a Class A felony to
produce drugs in a home where a child lives, or within 2,000 feet of a
public or private school, college, university or school bus.

The only exception would be for production of less than five grams of
marijuana, which would remain a Class C felony punishable by up to seven
years in prison.

The meth problem began several decades ago in California, which still has
some of the largest producers and the second-highest number of lab seizures.

It spread east during the past decade or so and has taken root especially
in the Midwest, where rural areas provide cover for small, makeshift labs
that often produce a stinky, rotten-egg smell.

Meth bills are HB470 and SB39.

On the Net:

Missouri Legislature: http://www.moga.state.mo.us