BAKING SODA COULD GO BEHIND THE COUNTER

A Missouri state legislator is seeking to regulate baking soda sales
in hopes of curbing crack cocaine production.

In a bill introduced in late March, Rep. Talibdin El-Amin (D-St.
Louis) says he wants to put baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate,
behind the pharmaceutical counter.

Sodium bicarbonate is a key ingredient used in producing crack
cocaine, which is often created by dissolving powdered cocaine in a
mixture of water and baking soda.

Rep. El-Amin's bill would require customers to provide photo
identification when purchasing baking soda, and limit customers under
the age of 18 from purchasing over two ounces. The name, address, and
purchase amount of the buyer would be required to be recorded by the seller.

Critics of the bill claim that crack cocaine does not only rely on
baking soda, but can be produced using any form weak base.

The bill follows suit of the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of
2005 limiting cold medicine containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine
such as Sudafed and Claritin to behind the counter to control
methamphetamine production. Retail regulation of methamphetamine
precursors is carried out by 35 states.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), cocaine is
distributed in nearly every midsize to large city in the U.S.
Distribution is mainly controlled by Mexican drug traffickers,
especially in the Great Lakes, the West, Southeast, Southwest and
West Central regions.

A 2006 report by the DEA revealed total cocaine usage in the U.S. at
36.5 percent, topped only by Methamphetamine at 38.8 percent.

Cocaine remains the dominant drug in regions east of the Mississippi
while Methamphetamine tops the list in the west.