Pubdate: Thu, 10 Mar 2005
Source: Courier-Journal, The (KY)
Copyright: 2005 The Courier-Journal
Contact:  http://www.courier-journal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/97
Author: Lesley Stedman Weidenbener
Note: Only publishes local LTEs
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

HOUSE PANEL FAVORS TOUGHER ANTI-METH BILL

Sale Of Medicines Would Be Restricted

INDIANAPOLIS -- A House committee voted yesterday to restrict the sale
of cough, allergy and cold medicines that contain an ingredient used
to make methamphetamine.

The Courts and Criminal Code Committee stripped less restrictive
provisions out of a bill that has already passed the Senate and
replaced them with language from a House bill that died last week
during a Democrat boycott.

As amended yesterday, Senate Bill 444 will take cold medicines out of
convenience stores, truck stops and some groceries and restrict them
to stores with pharmacies. It also requires the drugs to be kept
behind the counter.

It now moves to the full House for consideration.

The committee voted 11-1 for the bill after criminal-justice officials
asked lawmakers to act now to restrict access to drugs such as
Sudafed, which contain pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in meth.

As written, SB444 requires that medicines containing pseudoephedrine
be kept behind pharmacy counters and requires customers to show
identification and sign a log to buy them.

"Anything short of getting it off store shelves is not going to take
care of the problem," said Larry Landis, executive director of the
Indiana Public Defender Council. "This is an opportunity to get smart
on crime."

Sheriffs, prosecutors and police told the committee yesterday that
they are overwhelmed by the problems created by meth labs and meth
addiction.

Jon Marvel, the sheriff of Vigo County, where more meth labs have been
busted than anyplace else in Indiana, told lawmakers that the cost of
running his jail has increased from about $800,000 just a few years
ago to $3.5 million last year, largely because of a flood of meth arrests.

At his urging, Vigo County commissioners passed an ordinance that
requires certain cough and cold medicine to be purchased only at
pharmacy counters, a restriction Marvel said already has reduced the
local meth activity.

SB244 would allow Vigo County to keep its ordinance but would prohibit
local governments from passing more restrictive rules after June 30.

Vermillion County Sheriff Kim Hawkins compared SB244 to installing
safety locks on doors, which protect children but make it a bit harder
for adults to open as well.

"It's a little more trouble," he told lawmakers. "But the end result
will be better."

The bill is based on an Oklahoma law, which supporters say has reduced
the number of meth labs in that state by 70 percent.

But retailers said lawmakers don't need to be so restrictive to
achieve similar results. They said SB 444 -- as amended yesterday --
will cost them sales and inconvenience customers who are not breaking
the law.

Joe Lackey, president of the Indiana Grocery and Convenience Store
Association, said 75 percent of people are taking one of the drugs
that will be restricted on a daily basis, and the bill will make it
harder to get the common medications they need, especially in rural
areas where there are no 24-hour pharmacies.

"It's analogous to restricting gasoline because some people use it for
arson," Lackey said.

Retailers supported the original version of SB444 -- the language that
passed the Senate -- which restricted the amount of cough medicine
customers could buy but allowed all stores to sell it, as long as they
took additional precautions to prevent theft and track purchases.

The bill's author, Sen. Mike Young, R-Indianapolis, urged House
committee members yesterday not to make major changes in the Senate
version of the bill, which he said better balances the needs of
customers, retailers and law enforcement.

But criminal-justice officials said yesterday that they prefer the
stricter approach.

"This won't cure the meth addiction problem," Indiana State Police
methamphetamine expert Eric Lawrence said. "But it will address the
meth lab problem."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin