Pubdate: Wed, 06 Jul 2005 Source: Charleston Gazette (WV) Copyright: 2005 Charleston Gazette Contact: http://www.wvgazette.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/77 Author: Associated Press Note: Letters from newspaper's circulation area receive publishing priority Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) METH CONTROL LAW TO TAKE EFFECT FRIDAY Purchase Of Some Cold Remedies To Require Picture ID, Signature Want to buy some cold medicine? Step right up and sign the logbook. Starting Friday, the purchase of some over-the-counter cold and allergy remedies will require a picture ID, a signature and reporting to the state Pharmacy Board, all in an effort to control the spread of illegal methamphetamine labs in West Virginia. West Virginia is the latest state to seek to control pseudoephedrine - -- found in some over-the-counter cold and allergy remedies. The chemical can be extracted and used to make meth. The yield of meth is about equal to the amount of pseudoephedrine used in the manufacturing process, according to law enforcement officials. West Virginia's law only applies to nonliquid medicines that use pseudoephedrine as their single active ingredient. But that could amount to 18 products that pharmacies will have to move from store shelves, said Richard Stevens, executive director of the West Virginia Pharmacists Association. That could lead some pharmacists to reduce the selection of certain cold remedies. "Because of limited space, some pharmacists are going to limit their inventories," Stevens said. It will be legal for customers to purchase only up to three packages - -- or up to 9 grams -- of the medicines each month without a prescription. And because of the space considerations and reporting requirements, costs could be nudged up for consumers. Several national supermarket and pharmacy chains like Safeway, Kroger, CVS, Target and Wal-Mart have announced new policies on moving over-the-counter products containing pseudoephedrine to secure locations in their stores. "Those large chain operations made a business decision," Stevens said. "If Target or Wal-Mart doesn't want to be aggravated with half a dozen state laws, they'll just as soon put the stuff behind the counter to keep their costs down." Meth, which can come in the form of a crystalline powder or rocklike chunks, is an addictive stimulant that can be smoked, snorted, injected or taken orally. Its street names include "ice," "crystal" and "speed." A national version of the anti-meth bill working its way through the U.S. Congress was amended in the Senate last week to carve out an exception for stores without a pharmacist on duty, such as convenience stores and some grocery chains. Pressed by retailers concerned about losing sales, lawmakers changed the proposal to give states the option of working with the Drug Enforcement Administration to license certain employees who are not pharmacists to sell the medicines. State Police Lt. Mike Goff said he does not expect an immediate change in the amount of meth produced in West Virginia. "I hope we see some decrease," he said. "But it's kind of down right now anyway. Things have been kind of slow -- not like they were earlier this year." Goff said no plans have been made for an immediate crackdown on cold and allergy medicines still being sold at convenience stores and supermarkets. "I'm thinking we're probably going to give a lot of warnings and educate store owners about the new law," he said. "I'm not sure how many of them are aware of the new rules." The new law also levels a felony charge against meth makers when their makeshift toxic drug labs injure first responders such as firefighters. Phil Morrison, executive director of West Virginia Prosecuting Attorneys Institute, said the new law opens several new enforcement opportunities. "There are a ton of different things in there that are going to arm prosecutors a lot better than they have in the past," he said. "There are all kind of steps that this bill puts into effect that weren't there before." - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin