SENATE OKS PILL RESTRICTION

First OxyContin, Now Antihistamines.

The Senate Thursday passed 31-0 a bill that restricts the number of
packages and the number of pills that can be sold in single transactions
for over-the-counter products containing pseudoephedrine and related active
ingredients in common decongestant products. The bill was sent to the House.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Bill Wooton, D-Raleigh, said the Judiciary
Committee originated the bill Tuesday, based on model legislation in other
states, where there have been problems with abuse by taking
larger-than-recommended dosages of the drugs.

Dr. Henry Taylor, commissioner for the Bureau of Public Health, said the
decongestants can also be manufactured into methamphetamine, or speed.

"There's a lot of issues with antihistamines and speed," Taylor said,
although he said he was not aware of serious problems with decongestant
abuse in the state.

Under the bill, retailers could not sell more than four packages of any
product containing pseudoephedrine, ephedrine, or phenylpropanolamine. The
latter two are commonly used in energy boosters and weight loss drugs.

No single package could contain more than 100 pills. The drugs would also
have to be sealed in blister packs or in single-dose packets.

Violations could carry fines of up to $250.

Also Thursday, the Senate:

Concurred with House amendments, passed 31-0 and sent to the governor a
bill (SB61) that weakens a 123-year-old state law that prohibits county and
public school officials from having private interests in public contracts.

The bill would make exceptions to the current law, which prohibits those
officials from having any interest in contracts awarded by their agencies.

Critics of the law said it's too strict, and creates a conflict of interest
even if the official is simply employed by the company.

Under the bill, officials who meet a five-step process to show they have no
direct interest in the contract would be allowed to recuse themselves from
voting.

Ethics Commission Executive Director Rick Alker last week proposed an
alternative to allow the commission to issue hardship exemptions to the law
in cases when the only reasonable bidder would have ties to a county or
school official.

Passed 24-9 and sent to the House a bill (SB498) to allow high-growth
counties to fund farmland preservation projects by dedicating a portion of
hotel-motel tax collections and by increasing the privilege tax on real
estate transfers.

The funds would be used to buy conservation easements on farmlands, which
would prohibit the properties from ever being developed.

Sen. Vic Sprouse, R-Kanawha, opposed the measure, noting, "We're talking
about a tax on every single property transaction. That, to me, is craziness."

Sen. Herb Snyder, D-Jefferson, argued that the bill is only to preserve
farmlands in Eastern Panhandle counties, which are rapidly being developed
into suburbs of Washington.

Passed 24-7 and sent to the House a bill (SB40) that would allow county
commissions to lease or assign the 18 unclaimed retail liquor licenses, if
there is no liquor retailer in the county within 30 miles of the licensing
zone.

The bill is aimed at Wirt County, where the only retailer in the county
lost his license last year after failing to meet the minimum bid set by the
Alcohol Beverage Control Administration.