Pubdate: Tue, 26 Jul 2005 Source: Herald-Dispatch, The (Huntington, WV) Copyright: 2005 The Herald-Dispatch Contact: http://www.hdonline.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1454 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) METH DEALERS MAKE COLD, FLU SEASON WORSE The crack cocaine trade is violent. The White House has labeled marijuana as the nation's most substantial drug problem. County sheriffs throughout the United States, however, see the methamphetamine trade as a bigger problem. For some lucky reason, the meth trade hasn't hit Cabell County as hard as it has neighboring counties. Part of that could be the flourishing crack trade here. Or the meth is here, and we just don't know about it, yet. But we can't expect meth to avoid us forever. West Virginia is attempting to deal with the growing meth problem by making it harder for people to buy over-the-counter cold medicine. Many cold remedies contain pseudoephedrine, an ingredient used in making meth. Law enforcement authorities are also warning retailers to watch for purchases of large amounts of other materials that can be used to make meth in a home lab, such as brake cleaner, coffee filters, drain cleaner, lithium batteries, matches and salt. International gangs control much of the illegal meth trade, but West Virginians tend to be do-it-yourselfers. The recipe for making meth can be found on the Internet. It won't be long before the inventive minds behind illegal drugs find a way around the cold remedy restrictions. The rest of us will be stuck with more aggravations when we have cold or flu symptoms. When we go to buy our over-the-counter medicines, we will have to provide a photo ID, and we will have to provide a signature. Individuals will be allowed to buy only three packages a month without a prescription. People who run pharmacies say they may limit their inventories of over-the-counter cold medicines because of these new restrictions. Lawmakers in Oregon are considering something more drastic. A bill in that state's legislature would require a prescription for cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine. When cold and flu season strikes, we will have meth addicts to thank for making life more miserable for the rest of us in many ways. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth