Pubdate: Fri, 28 Jan 2005
Source: Sun Herald (MS)
Copyright: 2005, The Sun Herald
Contact:  http://www.sunherald.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/432
Author: Shelia Byrd, The Associated Press
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

FORMER ADDICT SPEAKS OUT IN FAVOR OF STRENGTHENING STATE'S METH LAWS

JACKSON - The last time Mark Stovall saw narcotics agent Jeff Killion,
the lawman was arresting him on methamphetamine charges.

On Wednesday, they met again at a Senate Judiciary B Committee
hearing, at which both of them spoke in favor of strengthening the
state's laws against the highly addictive drug.

Stovall, who kicked his meth habit after his 2001 arrest in Coahoma
County on possession charges, said legislation lawmakers are
considering "is a good bill."

The bill would make pseudoephedrine, a common ingredient in cold
medicine and meth recipes, a drug that could only be handled by a
pharmacist or a pharmacist assistant. That means if a person goes to
the store for cold medicine containing pseudoephedrine they couldn't
just buy it off the shelf.

The bill was based on an Oklahoma law that resulted in an 80 percent
drop in meth lab seizures.

Stovall, who is now a director of a treatment center for youths in
Dublin, said if that law would have been in effect when he was an
addict, he probably would have given up the drug.

"If you would have shook the tree just a little... it would have
helped. I was too paranoid. I would not have asked someone else to buy
it for me," Stovall told the committee.

Makers of the cold medicine say restricting the drugs to a
pharmacist's counter could place a hardship on some residents. They
contend that not all pharmacies are open 24 hours a day. They also
said other strategies are just as effective, such as community
outreach and awareness.

Jennifer Hawks Bland, a spokeswoman for the Consumer Healthcare
Products Association, which represents the industry, said Washington
state has experienced more than a 35 percent drop in lab seizures over
the past two years. That state put limits on possession, she said.

Sen. Stacey Pickering, R-Soso, suggested that lawmakers consider
locking up the pseudoephedrine in glass cases as opposed to keeping
them behind the counter. He said a store manager could unlock the case
if someone needs medicine after the pharmacy has closed.

Attorney General Jim Hood said that asking retailers to regularly give
the state Bureau of Narcotics a list of purchases would also help. He
said 80 percent of meth arrests are the result of retailers tipping
law enforcement officers.

There are seven meth bills pending in the Judiciary B Committee;
others are pending in the Mississippi House. Judiciary B Chairman Gray
Tollison, D-Oxford, said his committee has until Tuesday to act on the
bills.

On Wednesday, the House Judiciary A Committee passed a bill that would
limit the sale of pseudoephedrine-based products to two packages or
six grams per transaction. The bill also requires that the medicine be
stored behind a counter, in a locked display case or under video
surveillance.

[sidebar]

METH FACTS

Some facts about methamphetamine. The information was provided at 
Wednesday's Judiciary B hearing on the drug.

Meth is a powerful, highly addictive central nervous system stimulant.

The rush is about 600 times the normal amount of dopamine and 
norepinepherine, which are released into the body naturally when a person 
"feels good."

Meth can be "cooked" by relative amateurs with readily available 
ingredients such as ephedrine, red phosphorous, hydrochloric acid, drain 
cleaner, battery acid, lantern fuel and antifreeze.

Meth's effects may last about 10 times longer than a cocaine user's high 
because the body metabolizes the drug slower.

Meth kills by causing heart failure, brain damage and stroke.

Meth-induced paranoia has led to numerous murders and suicides.

Source - Mississippi Department of Mental Health, Division of Alcohol and 
Drug Abuse 
- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake