Pubdate: Tue, 15 Feb 2005 Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI) Copyright: 2005 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Contact: http://www.jsonline.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/265 Author: Graeme Zielinski Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) POTENT DRUG IS IN THE CROSSHAIRS Lawmakers Aim To Slow Seepage Into State The state Legislature is planning hearings and proposing new laws, hoping to stanch the spread of methamphetamine use. Evidence is accumulating that the cheap and potent drug, now well-ensconced in neighboring states such as Minnesota and Iowa, is seeping over the border into Wisconsin, where lab seizures jumped from five to more than 100 in four years. Kicking off the efforts will be a hearing at the Capitol Feb. 23 that will set the stage, articulating the health, social and economic problems associated with the stimulant, as well as the possible legislative responses. "Methamphetamine is a major criminal issue affecting not only western Wisconsin, but rural Wisconsin statewide," said Rep. Scott Suder (R-Abbotsford), who will be chairman of the hearing. "This is a first step toward review of a comprehensive package that we hope will curb the problem." The hearings are a precursor to coordination of a passel of bills that had been announced in recent weeks by various legislators, Democrat and Republican, seeking to deal with the meth issue, Suder said. Calls to Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager, who also has focused on the meth issue, were not immediately returned. Chief among the changes being proposed by lawmakers are new restrictions on the over-the-counter sale of products containing pseudoephedrine, the favored main ingredient in the toxic brew that becomes meth and also the chief ingredient in such cold symptom products as Sudafed. Michelle Kussow, a lobbyist for the Wisconsin Grocers Association, cautioned against any blanket prohibitions on pseudoephedrine that would unfairly burden consumers in rural communities, where pharmacies are fewer. "We want to make sure that any legislation comes out solves the meth problems but doesn't create a huge burden on the customer or the retailer," she said. Wisconsin is not alone in contemplating new laws to combat meth. In recent years, states such as Oklahoma and Illinois have put heavy restrictions on the sale of products with pseudoephedrine, limiting the amounts that can be sold and who can sell them. At the federal level, new restrictions are making their way through Congress, where a "meth caucus" has been meeting on the subject. "I expect action soon," said U.S. Rep Ron Kind (D-Wis.), a member of the caucus. Officials from the law enforcement and drug treatment communities are sounding the alarm about meth because it is cheap to produce and purchase, has a long-lasting high, has notably deleterious medical side effects, including permanent brain damage, and can induce paranoia that can turn violent. According to figures from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, the number of meth lab seizures in Wisconsin rose from five in 1999 to 101 in 2003. The state crime lab reported an increase in meth cases referred, from 101 in 2000 to 545 in 2004. Shawna Kovach, a Chippewa Falls-based program coordinator for the St. Joseph's Hospital drug treatment center, said that her organization treated 170 cases of meth addiction last year. She said this represented close to a 100% increase from three years previous. "We've been seeing it creep from the western counties along the Minnesota border into our part of the state. It's not surprising at all. It will travel to your part of the state," she said. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth