COUNTY TAKES ON DRUG GIANTS

Independence County is taking a bold legal step.

The county is suing a pair of pharmaceutical giants as well as some
other distributors and makers of products containing ephedrine and
psuedoephedrine, both of which are used in the production of
methamphetamine. The purpose of the suit, which was filed in circuit
court Wednesday afternoon, is to recoup damages that the county has
incurred while combating meth use and addiction.

"Well we all know what a horrendous problem this is," Independence
County Judge Bill Hicks said. "We've fought it for many years and
something needs to be done."

So using the "guidance" of the tobacco lawsuits that culminated in
the multi-state tobacco settlement of 1998, the suit names Pfizer
Inc., PDK Labs Inc., Warner Lambert, Johnson & Johnson, Perrigo
Company, American Novelties and Cliff McQuay, Cliff McQuay Jr. and
Ellen McQuay of Cliff McQuay Sales Company as defendants.

The suit contends that these defendants and others that may be
discovered through the course of the suit, have "knowingly sold far
in excess of the amount necessary for any legitimate use to producers
of the illicit drug methamphetamine."

The county contends that the defendants "have been aware of the fact
that ephedrine and psuedoephedrine from their products is used to
manufacture methamphetamine." It further contends that "the county
incurs significant costs treating this addiction and its side
effects. These costs include, but are not limited to, treating users
to overcome their addiction and treating the physical side effects of
use, and investigating and remediating theft and violent actions
taken by those using methamphetamine against law-abiding citizens."

The suit claims that the defendants actively sought loopholes to get
around legislative measures that would have helped to curtail efforts
to stop the production of meth. It also contends that Pfizer created
a product that cannot be made into meth but has refused to sell it,
opting to keep it as an "insurance policy." It also states that
Warner Lambert, now owned by Pfizer, created a product in which it
"would be impossible or virtually impossible to extract them for
methamphetamine production."

The suit says the Drug Enforcement Administration began pushing for
controls as early as 1986, and that someone "reasonably prudent"
would have embraced and cooperated with these efforts; however, the
defendants did not. They enacted some measures, but the "loopholes"
in the law protected the defendants and kept ephedrine and
psuedoephedrine available for cooks.

According to Hicks, by filing in circuit court the door has been left
open for other counties in Arkansas to join the suit. While no other
county has come forward to join yet, there are counties interested,
the judge said.

"I talked to the judge at Jackson County, and he verbally committed,
but he's got to go through his quorum court," Hicks said.

He also said Fulton, White, Woodruff, Lawrence, Garland and Prescott
counties have all contacted him about joining. Also, it is possible
that the state could enter the fray, said Hicks who is optimistic
about the county's chances.

"I'm very comfortable with it," Hicks said. "I think the complaint
has tons of information and I'm very comfortable with the information we have."

While at press time most of the defendants had not returned phone
calls seeking comment, a representative at Priggo noted that the
company was ahead of efforts to put its products behind the counter
and that the representative would have more information after
consulting the firm's lawyers.