LAW WOULD LIST DECONGESTANT INGREDIENTS AS CDS

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Legislation that would make it unlawful to possess
or distribute certain ingredients used in manufacturing
methamphetamine passed the House of Representatives and has been sent
to the Senate for consideration.

House Bill 2316 by Rep. Ray Miller, D-Quinton, would add ephedrine,
pseudoephedrine or phenylpropanolamine to the list of controlled
dangerous substances in Oklahoma.

Miller's bill would make it illegal for a person to knowingly possess
more than 24 grams of any of those drug products "with the intent to
use the products as a precursor to manufacture methamphetamine or any
other controlled substance in Oklahoma," Violation of the proposed
law would be a felony crime, with some exceptions, punishable by
imprisonment in the state penitentiary for up to five years."

These ingredients are used to make crystalline methamphetamine, which
is also referred to as "crank" or "poor man's cocaine," Miller said.

Exceptions listed in HB 2316 would extend to:

o A retail distributor of drug products;

o A wholesale drug distributor, or its agents, licensed by the State
Board of Pharmacy;

o A manufacturer of drug products or its agents licensed by the State
Board of Pharmacy;

o A pharmacist licensed by the Board of Pharmacy; and/or,

o A licensed health care professional possessing the drug products in
the course of carrying out his or her profession.

Another provision of House Bill 2316 would make it unlawful for
anyone to knowingly sell, transfer, distribute or dispense any
product containing ephedrine, pseudoephedrine or phenylpropanolamine
if the person had knowledge the buyer would use the product in the
manufacture of methamphetamine or another controlled dangerous
substance.

The provision also decrees that anyone could be convicted of the
crime if the suspect "sells, transfers, distributes or dispenses
those products with reckless disregard as to how the product will be
used," Miller related.

Violation would be a felony crime punishable by imprisonment for up
to 10 years, he said.

"Illegal drug makers mix those ingredients with other chemicals that
are relatively inexpensive to buy and easy to acquire," Miller said.

Some of the other chemicals used to manufacture methamphetamine in
clandestine labs across the state include anhydrous ammonia, a
volatile ingredient found in farm fertilizer, combined with other
poisonous substances like engine starter fluid and paint thinner, he
said.

"If we can eliminate the ability of unlawful drug manufacturers to
acquire ingredients, yet still allow people with legitimate reasons
access to over-the-counter medications, we should be able to put a
dent in the meth trade," Miller said.

Ephedrine, pseudoephedrine and phenylpropanolamine are ingredients
found in minute quantities in more than 5,000 over-the-counter
decongestants, according to Mark Woodward, public information officer
for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs
Control.

The federal Drug Enforcement Agency reported that the number of
people abusing methamphetamine -- also known on the street as speed,
ice or crystal -- tripled nationwide over a five-year period to 9.4
million in 1999.

In Oklahoma, law enforcement officials raided 10 methamphetamine labs in 1994.

Those figures have risen each year, Woodward said.

Law enforcement agents seized 1,193 clandestine meth labs throughout
the state in 2001.

He said it's often a sad experience when methamphetamine drug labs
are seized by law enforcement personnel.

"In 60 to 70 percent of those cases, we find either children or toys
in or around those drug labs," Woodward said. "That means we likely
will be taking those kids to jail for drug possession or distribution
when they become adults because of what they were taught by their
drug-using parents. Today's children are tomorrow's leaders."

Besides easy-to-acquire chemicals, methamphetamine users indicate the
drug can be manufactured within a four-hour period and is among the
most powerful drugs, which helps make methamphetamine tremendously
addictive, Woodward said.

"There is a misconception that methamphetamine manufactured from
these drug labs are sold to others," he said. "In some cases, yes,
but in all other cases the manufacturer is simply making his or her
own supply of the drug."

Woodward said methamphetamine physically changes the chemistry of the brain.

"The result is a craving their brain will never forget," he said.

"Methamphetamine users I've talked with indicate the drug is so
strong they will never be free of it. Most said they will die under
the influence of that homemade substance, and there is no risk that a
methamphetamine user will not take."

He said methamphetamine users may stop for two or three weeks without
withdrawal, then they rush back to it.

This is a powerful addiction that is almost impossible to alleviate,
according to Woodward.

"Oklahoma ranks high among the number of meth labs seized," Miller
said. "With the demand so high, drug dealers are looking for new ways
to produce their product."