Pubdate: Thu, 01 Sep 2005
Source: Grand Forks Herald (ND)
Copyright: 2005 Grand Forks Herald
Contact:  http://www.northscape.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/513
Author: Dale Wetzel, AP

RULES ON COLD-PILL SALES SLOW METH LABS, ATTORNEY GENERAL SAYS

BISMARCK, N.D. - Requiring North Dakotans to show identification to buy 
cold pills has throttled the growth of illegal methamphetamine labs, which 
need the pills to make the illegal drug, Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said.

"This is the first truly good news on the meth-lab front that we've seen 
since the epidemic first started in North Dakota eight years ago," 
Stenehjem said Thursday.

In recent years, the Legislature has imposed a number of restrictions on 
buying cold remedies that contain pseudoephedrine, a compound that is 
distilled to make methamphetamine. Meth is a toxic, highly addictive stimulant.

Pseudoephedrine is a common ingredient in cold pills. This year, lawmakers 
agreed to require merchants who sell cold pills with pseudoephedrine to ask 
customers for identification, and write down the buyer's name, address, 
birth date and driver's license number.

The law took effect June 1. During the following three months, authorities 
discovered 23 crude labs that had been set up to make the drug, a 64 
percent decrease in the number of labs that were discovered during June, 
July and August of 2004.

In August 2004 alone, law officers shut down 16 methamphetamine labs, 
according to Bureau of Criminal Investigation statistics. Last month, 
police found only four.

Stenehjem attributes the steep decline to the new customer ID law. After 
the Iowa Legislature approved a similar law, authorities recorded a similar 
drop in the number of meth lab arrests, the attorney general said.

"Citizens of North Dakota have willingly accepted the minor inconvenience 
in purchasing cold medicine, and in exchange, they're helping to alleviate 
this epidemic in North Dakota," he said.

Small, local meth labs account for only about 15 percent of the drug's 
North Dakota supply, the attorney general said. However, meth lab arrests, 
and cleaning up the toxic sites, take up a great deal of law enforcement 
time, he said.

The new law also required merchants to keep closer watch on their stock of 
cold medicines by moving them behind the counter, installing a video 
surveillance system or keeping only single package of particular brands on 
public display.

Only people who are at least 18 years old may buy cold pills with 
pseudoephedrine, and they are limited to buying about 64 pills on a single 
trip to the store.

Stenehjem said he is supporting federal legislation that would limit 
pseudoephedrine sales to pharmacies, with exemptions for rural areas that 
do not have drugstores.
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MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman