Pubdate: Sun, 23 Jan 2005 Source: Courier-Journal, The (KY) Copyright: 2005 The Courier-Journal Contact: http://www.courier-journal.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/97 Note: Source rarely prints LTEs received from outside its circulation area Author: Harold J. Adams Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) STREAM OF BILLS FILED TO BATTLE METH Most Aimed At Cutting Supplies Indiana lawmakers have filed at least seven bills this session aimed at curbing illegal methamphetamine use and production. Most of the proposals try to choke off the supply of meth's main ingredient, dry forms of ephedrine or pseudoephedrine found in some cold and allergy medicines. The bills would require that those medicines be kept behind store counters and sold only by licensed pharmacists or certified pharmacy technicians. Most of the bills also would limit the number of pills that could be purchased at one time and require buyers to show photo identification and sign a log when buying the remedies. There are also proposals to cut down on thefts of anhydrous ammonia, a fertilizer stolen from farm tanks for use in the meth-making process. They would offer tax credits to farmers who place locks on their tanks or use chemical additives that make it more difficult to use the ammonia illegally. Other legislative proposals range from requiring those convicted of crimes involving meth to reimburse counties for the costs of keeping them in jail, and requiring property owners to disclose whether meth was manufactured on a property offered for sale. Most of the bills follow recommendations made in October by a statewide Methamphetamine Abuse Task Force that studied the issue last summer. In December, a Courier-Journal report detailed the widening meth problem in Indiana and Kentucky and the lack of controls on access to the drug's ingredients in both states. The meth task force estimated that combating the drug costs Indiana more than $100 million per year. Figures released Friday show a spike in the number of meth labs dismantled by Indiana law enforcement last year to 1,549, up from 1,260 in 2003. Indiana Rep. Trent Van Haaften, D-Mount Vernon, the only legislator on the meth task force, said: "I think the focus right now needs to be on that access question." He said Thursday that other task force recommendations calling for increasing the number of drug courts in the state and boosting funding for treatment programs have to wait. "I think if we can limit the access, we will inherently reduce the amount of meth that is out there," he said. Van Haaften filed House Bill 1685, which includes most of the areas examined by the task force. The bill would impose uniform reporting of meth labs to the state police, the local fire department, county health departments and the state division of family and children, and offer the tax incentives on protection of anhydrous ammonia. Quantity Limit? It also would include the access restrictions, including a requirement that medicines containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine be sold in packages containing no more than 12 capsules. Rep. Eric Koch, R-Bedford, introduced House Bill 1223, which includes the pharmacy dispensing requirement, but does not impose a limit on quantities sold. "I think there's general agreement there should be some higher level of control, and what we need to sit down and talk about is how restrictive that should be," said Koch. He also indicated that increased funding for treatment and drug courts might have to wait. "Those two do have a fiscal impact and we're at a moment in time where we're exercising fiscal restraint," he said. Discussion of the bills has not begun. Five bills filed in the House of Representatives have been assigned to the Courts and Criminal Code committee, which includes Koch and Van Haaften. Both predicted there eventually would be a single bill from the House and Senate mixing elements from the proposals. "I think in a couple of weeks we'll have a better idea of where we're headed," said Koch. The bill he wrote includes the requirement that sellers disclose whether a meth lab has been found on a property. "That's because ... the hazardous, toxic nature of some of the materials used" to make meth can contaminate a property, said Koch. "It would require that to be disclosed so that someone doesn't unknowingly purchase a property and along with it an enormous remediation cost" to remove the contaminants, he said. Most Medicine Excluded Koch emphasized that the proposed restrictions would not apply to medicines that have liquid or gel forms of ephedrine or to remedies that do not contain ephedrine or pseudoephedrine. "I want to make very clear that most of these products are in a form that will remain on the shelf, that it will not take most of these products that consumers are used to purchasing off the shelf," said Koch. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth