ANTI-METH LAWS ADD TO MISERY OF MANY COLD, ALLERGY
SUFFERERS

Registry Rules Wrap Ailing Patients, Pharmacists In Red Tape

Pharmacist Jim Ricket used to frequently recommend cough medicine
containing pseudoephedrine.

Now, bottles of the stuff are expiring at his Kenstar Pharmacy in
Grove City.

That's likely because Ohio lawmakers put the over-the-counter drug
behind the counters of pharmacies and other retailers nearly a year
ago. A federal law doing the same took effect last fall.

Many people don't want to go through the hassle of waiting in line,
filling out a form and showing ID, Ricket said.

Pseudoephedrine can relieve cold and allergy symptoms, but it also can
be used to make the illegal drug methamphetamine.

The move behind the counter has created more work for pharmacists and
pushed sniffling shoppers to other remedies, but it's unclear whether
it has helped curb Ohio's meth problem.

This year's allergy season started early and is expected to be
especially bad, said Columbus allergist Roger Friedman.

Customers wanting pseudoephedrine must be at least 18 years old. They
have to ask for it at the counter, sign a log and provide their name,
address and a government-issued photo ID.

The log is kept at the store, where law officers can look at it if
they want. But there are no scheduled checks and no electronic
database, said Bill Winsley, executive director of the Ohio State
Board of Pharmacy.

Individuals aren't supposed to buy more than 9 grams in 30 days or 3.6
grams a day. Nine grams are between 366 and 389 30-milligram tablets,
depending on the compound.

But buyers can go from store to store and eventually stock up enough
to make meth, a stimulant that can be injected, snorted or swallowed.

"It makes them work harder," Anthony Marotta, assistant special agent
in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration in Columbus, said of
the law. "It's a step in the right direction. Anything is better than
nothing."

Federal, state and local law-enforcement officers seized 324 meth labs
in Ohio last year, compared with 497 the year before. In 2004, 351
labs were broken up.

The pseudoephedrine law deserves some credit for the drop, Marotta
said, but numbers ebb and flow for many reasons, including a rise in
awareness about what a meth lab looks and smells like.

"We are starting to see positive results," he said. "But I really
think the court is still out."

Scott Duff credits the law with the drop in meth labs. He is a special
agent supervisor with the narcotics division of the state Bureau of
Criminal Identification and Investigation.

Duff predicts there will be an electronic database for pseudoephedrine
purchases, but he isn't sure when or how it will come about.

As the mother of two children, Christine Houk of Grove City is willing
to jump through a few hoops for allergy medicine if it makes her
community safer. But that doesn't mean she's happy about it.

"It used to be something that you'd wing in your cart anytime you were
out running errands," said the 37-year-old accountant. At big chain
stores, you can find yourself waiting in a line 10 shoppers deep to
get approval, she said.

Houk also said there might be legitimate reasons for buying a lot of
pseudoephedrine, pointing out that she has to buy a new batch each
time her daughter goes on a school field trip or to summer camp
because she has to provide her medicine in a sealed, unopened container.

Keeping the log is yet another task that distracts pharmacists from
their duties of filling prescriptions and counseling patients, said
Ernie Boyd, executive director of the Ohio Pharmacists Association.
"When we're busy trying to save people's lives, we're busy jerking
around with this silly log book."

Pharmacists catch an average of three mistakes a day on doctors'
prescriptions, he said, and more paperwork could mean more missed errors.

Boyd would like to see pseudoephedrine classified as a drug that
pharmacists could prescribe. Then the pharmacy board could use an
electronic tracking system, he said.

Sales of pseudoephedrine products have fallen steadily since 2003,
according to data from the Nielsen Co., which provides marketing
information.

For example, U.S. food, drug and mass-merchandising stores sold $278
million worth of products with pseudoephedrine in the first three
months of last year. By the July-September quarter, those sales had
dropped to $108 million.

Nielsen's numbers do not include Wal-Mart.

Ricket has seen the same drop in his store. People are buying the same
brands but with phenylephrine instead of pseudoephedrine.

The phenylephrine formulas can be left out on the shelves for
self-service. The drug isn't as effective, but it is more convenient,
he said.