Pubdate: Tue, 01 Mar 2005
Source: Hattiesburg American (MS)
Copyright: 2005 Hattiesburg American
Contact:  http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1646
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

BILL WOULD PUT COLD MEDICINE BEHIND COUNTER LEGISLATION AIMS TO CURB 
METHAMPHETAMINE PRODUCTION

Methamphetamine is a highly addictive and potent powder "cooked" from 
common ingredients such as ammonia, lithium from car batteries and 
pseudoephedrine. After snorting, eating or injecting the drug, users 
experience rushes of energy and euphoria. The drug's effects can last for 
hours.

Meth creates the potential for explosions and contamination because of the 
combustible ingredients used to manufacture it.

A measure to fight methamphetamine production in Mississippi could cause 
some confusion in pharmacies in the coming months, but retailers and law 
enforcement officials say they support the general intent of the bill.

"It's an interesting bill, but it could mean just about every cough and 
cold medicine on the market would be behind the counter," said Kim Rodgers, 
owner and pharmacist at Rodgers Family Pharmacy in Petal.

Gov. Haley Barbour on Monday was sent a bill that would require retailers 
to store cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine - a key ingredient used 
to make the illicit drug - in locked display cases, behind the counter, 
within 30 feet of a store cashier or under video surveillance.

Barbour has until Thursday to sign the bill into law.

Rodgers said upwards of 200 cold medications contain pseudoephedrine. Only 
about 20, however, have the chemical in large quantities, he said.

"It's still kind of confusing right now," Rodgers said. "It could mean 
requiring a tremendous amount of drugs to go behind the counter, but if 
it's pseudoephedrine only, it won't be that bad."

Rep. Joey Fillingane, R-Sumrall, said the bill does not specify drugs by 
name or list a quantity of the chemical that would be sufficient to 
manufacture the drug.

"The intent is clear that any drug with a sufficient dose to assist in the 
manufacture of methamphetamine would be subject to these provisions," 
Fillingane said.

The representative said the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics and other law 
enforcement agencies should be able to set standards for what drugs are 
consistent with the law.

Lamar County Sheriff Danny Rigel said any measures to deter the makers of 
methamphetamine are welcome.

"I don't think it's going to bother or inconvenience the average citizen," 
he said. "But I'm for anything that would limit the manufacture of crystal 
meth."

He also said keeping the cold medicines behind the counter will prevent thefts.

"There are already laws out there to make buying large quantities of this a 
felony, so by keeping the drugs behind the counter we can also limit the 
number of thefts of the drug," he said.

The bill is not as restrictive as initial legislation filed in the Senate, 
which only allowed a pharmacist or pharmacist technician to sell cold 
medicine containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine.

That bill was patterned after an Oklahoma law.

The bill sent to the governor also limits the amount of the cold tablets 
sold to a customer to no more than two packages per transaction or six 
grams of pseudoephedrine or ephedrine.

A retailer who violates the law could face a misdemeanor charge. Retailers 
caught making "backdoor sales" of the tablets by the caseload could face a 
felony charge, said Sen. Sidney Albritton, R-Picayune.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom