Pubdate: Sun, 03 Jul 2005
Source: Enid News & Eagle (OK)
Copyright: Enid News & Eagle 2005
Contact:  http://www.enidnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2012
Author: Cass Rains, Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

STATE TAKES THE LAW FURTHER IN WAR ON DRUGS

Oklahoma became the first state in the nation to enact a law
specifically aimed at cutting down the production of methamphetamine,
a problem plaguing Oklahoma counties and most Midwest states.

House Bill 2176, passed in April 2004, is named after three Oklahoma
Highway Patrol troopers killed in meth-related actions.

Trooper Nik Green, Rocky Eales and Matthew Evans Act limits the amount
of pseudoephedrine that can be purchased to 9 grams in a three-month
period and the frequency in which Oklahomans can purchase products
containing pseudoephedrine.

The law also requires pseudoephedrine be sold only in pharmacies and
by licensed pharmacists.

Pseudoephedrine is a common ingredient not only in cold medicine but
in methamphetamine.

Some states surrounding Oklahoma -- Texas, Kansas, Arkansas and
Missouri -- have adopted laws similar to or based on Oklahoma's law.

Other states are following suit, adopting their own cold pill laws,
but the biggest help might be in the form of a federal law being
drafted to be at least "as strong" as Oklahoma's law.

Mark Woodward, spokesman for Oklahoma State Bureau of Narcotics and
Dangerous Drug Control, said OBNDD would watch the bill's progress
closely.

"As we speak there is a draft before a committee," Woodward said. "We
should hear something about it in the next few weeks."

Woodward said the only states surrounding Oklahoma that haven't passed
some form of a cold pill law are Colorado and New Mexico.

"I don't see too big a problem with those states bordering the
Panhandle," he said. "A lot of pseudoephedrine buys typically go to
larger cities closer to state lines."

Another planned step in the methamphetamine fight is the creation of
an electronic database that would unite data from all pharmacy logbooks.

"It would tie all pharmacies together," Woodward said. "The program
would either accept or reject sales based upon their purchases elsewhere."

Woodward said the program will be given to all pharmacies in Oklahoma
by the first of next year.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin