Pubdate: Fri, 21 Oct 2005
Source: Montana Standard (MT)
Copyright: 2005 Montana Standard
Contact:  http://www.mtstandard.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/609
Author: Jennifer McKee
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

PHARMACISTS SAY EPHEDRINE LAW CAUSING FEW PROBLEMS

HELENA - Montana pharmacists are reporting few problems and law 
enforcement officials fewer meth labs since a law went on the books 
in July that limits the amount of cold medicine people may buy 
containing methamphetamine's raw material.

"So far, so good," said Jeanette Cooksey, a pharmacy technician at 
Driscoll Drug in Butte. "People aren't overly thrilled about having 
to show ID, but it hasn't been a big deal."

Since the law went into effect, law enforcement officers have busted 
just two meth labs, said Mike Batista, administrator of the 
Department of Justice's Division of Criminal Investigation. Before 
that, 15 labs had been busted since the beginning of the year.

"Certainly, these lab numbers are encouraging," he said. "If we get 
the smaller labs under control in this state, there's more time to 
devote to the bulk (pseudoephedrine) purchases that the super labs use."

The law limits to 9 grams the amount of ephedrine or pseudoephedrine 
products Montanans may buy in any 30-day period. Pseudo-ephedrine is 
a nasal decongestant found in Sudafed and medicines like it. 
Ephedrine is a stimulant sometimes sold in vitamin and health food 
stores for weight loss or as an energy booster.

The law's most visible change is that cold medicines containing 
pseudoephedrine can no longer be sold in the grocery aisle. Instead, 
the medicines must now be displayed behind a pharmacist's counter. 
People must show identification before they can buy any and 
pharmacists must keep track of who buys the products, when and how 
much they bought.

"It's a little bit more work for us," said Eric Beyer, the pharmacy 
manager at Eastgate Drug in Missoula. "People have been very 
understanding. Most people say if it's going to help, then it's worth it."

Meth cookers make methamphetamine by changing the chemical make-up of 
ephedrine or pseudoephedrine by mixing cold pills with any number of 
legal chemicals like hydrochloric acid and red phosphorous.

Montana is one of 37 states with laws that restrict the sale of those 
cold medications in an effort to starve the meth manufacturers of 
their key ingredient. The U.S. Senate last month approved a bill that 
would have required restrictions similar to those in Montana 
throughout the nation.

Batista said he didn't think the law had necessarily reduced the 
amount of meth in Montana. Dealers also import the drug into Montana 
and officers are starting to see distribution staging areas moving 
closer to the state "We see more groups staging in the Spokane area 
than we've ever seen before," he said.

With the hunt for meth labs in the state petering out, the state 
intends to send investigators to neighboring Canadian provinces, 
Spokane and other areas on the meth trail to Montana to fight the 
drug there. Batista also said public awareness campaigns, such as a 
privately funded series of television and radio ads, may actually cut 
down on the demand for the drug.

A dedicated meth cooker could out-maneuver the law, but Batista said 
many cookers are also users and they may not have the dedication to 
go from store to store accumulating cold pills one package at a time.

"You're on a drug that does not provide patience," he said.

The law puts pharmacists on the front lines. But none contacted for 
this story found the paperwork especially burdensome. In fact, some 
pharmacies embedded in larger grocery stores say the law may actually 
have helped them.

"It definitely hasn't hurt our sales," said Beyer, whose pharmacy is 
inside a larger Albertson's grocery store. Before the law passed, 
people suffering from colds and flu would never have come to the 
pharmacy as they could buy medicine in the grocery store.

Pfizer, the makers of Sudafed, have now come out with a new cold 
medicine that doesn't contain pseudoephedrine, specifically in 
response to meth and the laws limiting Sudafed sales, according to 
the company's Web site. The formula, which contains phenylephrine and 
cannot be used to make meth, allows the medicine to be sold in a 
grocery store with no restrictions.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman