Pubdate: Wed, 23 Mar 2005
Source: News & Observer (NC)
Copyright: 2005 The News and Observer Publishing Company
Contact:  http://www.news-observer.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/304
Author:  Robin Pendergraft
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

METH LAB LAW WON'T ELIMINATE COLD REMEDIES

Regarding your March 21 editorial "Inconvenient cure," which discussed 
options for fighting methamphetamine labs:

Many North Carolinians are unfamiliar with the horrors of these labs that 
are beginning to infest our communities. We busted only nine labs in 1999, 
but that number escalated to 322 in 2004 and is continuing to rise.

When State Bureau of Investigation agents respond to meth labs, they often 
find young, innocent children (124 of them in 2004) who must be removed 
from these homes because of exposure to toxic fumes which cause both short- 
and long-term illnesses and potential brain damage. These labs cause 
violent crime to increase, property values to go down and threaten 
communities with fires and explosions.

Pseudoephedrine or ephedrine, found in over-the-counter cold tablets, is 
the main ingredient for methamphetamine. For meth manufacturers in North 
Carolina, the main source of pseudoephedrine is the everyday retail store, 
not "the black market sale of stolen or diverted drugs" as you stated. In 
Oklahoma, when cold tablets containing pseudoephedrine were put in the 
control of pharmacists, the number of meth lab busts fell a dramatic 80 
percent.

Law-abiding North Carolinians would continue to have access to a variety of 
cold remedies under the proposed law. In Oklahoma, many consumers with 
colds switched to pseudoephedrine gel caps or liquid (which would not be 
affected by the new law in North Carolina) or made sure they had pills on 
hand if a midnight cold strikes. These gel and liquid cold remedies could 
remain on grocery and convenience store shelves under the law, while tablet 
forms would be placed behind a pharmacy counter.

Attorney General Roy Cooper and I hope North Carolina will have the 
foresight to trade a minor inconvenience for a major benefit and adopt the 
Oklahoma law. It's clear from the results in Oklahoma that we can help 
prevent great financial and human toll from meth labs by taking this simple 
step.

Robin Pendergraft

Director

State Bureau of Investigation

Raleigh
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