RETAILERS RESTRICTING DECONGESTANT SALES TO FIGHT METH PRODUCTION

Thinking of stocking up on decongestants for allergy season? A bill before
the governor aimed at battling methamphetamine production could restrict
the quantity you can buy at one time.

But many Middle Georgia pharmacists say they're already limiting the number
of pills you can buy, some well under the proposed 300-pill limit in Senate
Bill 205.

Shane Hix, spokesman for Gov. Perdue's office, said the governor will
likely sign the bill since he encouraged its introduction in both the House
and Senate.

"He's definitely going to sign it. The timetable hasn't been laid out yet,"
Hix said. It's part of an effort to combat the rise in methamphetamine
production, since pseudoephedrine, commonly sold under the brand name
Sudafed, can be used with household and farm chemicals to manufacture the
highly addictive drug.

Sudafed, manufactured by Pfizer, is available in strengths ranging from 10
milligrams of pseudoephedrine per dose in a multi-symptom formula to 240
milligrams per dose in a long-acting formula.

Though manufacturing methods vary, "meth cookers" need from one to three
grams of pseudoephedrine, and a number of other ingredients, to produce one
gram of methamphetamine.

State and local law enforcement agencies say they've seen a steady increase
during the past few years in the number of methamphetamine labs discovered.
Lt. Lance Watson of the Warner Robins Police Department's drug unit said
city retailers have seen large purchases and theft of pseudoephedrine.

"The funniest one was somebody (who) wrote a $100 check for Sudafed,"
Watson said.

Watson said the store called police and let officers know about the purchase.

He said stores call the department sometimes when people buy more than five
containers of the product.

"We've got a problem," Watson said. "A lot of the stores have started
placing a limit on it."

One Kroger pharmacy has taken to keeping all its decongestants behind the
counter, said Stephanie Cooper, pharmacy technician at the Kroger on
Hartley Bridge Road.

"We'll only sell one of the 96-count boxes at a time," Cooper said.

In the past, the store had problems with people who would buy the entire
stock of Sudafed or steal it in the middle of the night.

"People were buying all that we had on the shelf, like 12 boxes at a time,"
Cooper said.

Hilton Wright, a pharmacist with Sam's Club on Log Cabin Drive, said
company policy allows the sale of only two 96-pill units of pseudoephedrine
to a member at a time.

Wright said customers at Sam's, which requires shoppers to buy a
membership, were more interested in bargains than in illegal uses for
pharmaceuticals.

"The only problem with the law is really the innocent people who just want
a good deal," Wright said.

Paul Minter, a pharmacist at Chi-Ches-ter's Baconsfield pharmacy, said he's
not had any customers try to buy large quantities of decongestants.

"My opinion is that (the bill) won't help any. The people who are buying in
those quantities aren't using legal channels anyway," Minter said.

He said he hoped pseudoephedrine would stay on the market despite its link
to illegal drug production.

"It's the only (over-the-counter) decongestant we've got left. People need
it," Minter said.