Pubdate: Thu, 31 Mar 2005 Source: Decatur Daily (AL) Copyright: 2005 The Decatur Daily Contact: http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/index.shtml Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/696 Author: Associated Press Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) NEW TENNESSEE METH LAW RESTRICTS SOME COLD TABLET SALES NASHVILLE - Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen signed a law Wednesday aimed at fighting the state's soaring meth problem, and it starts by giving small stores 24 hours to stop selling cold tablets used to make the drug. "I hope this collective action sends a clear signal to the people of Tennessee that we are serious about tackling this problem," Bredesen said as he signed the measure that raced through the Legislature a little more than a month after he proposed it. The biggest change will be restrictions placed on some cold medicines that contain pseudoephedrine. They have to be sold, in limited amounts, from behind a pharmacy counter with a record of each purchase. Small stores that don't have pharmacies won't be allowed to sell the medicines that contain pseudoephedrine, a major component in making meth, at all. Tennessee has become a hotbed for meth production, with 1,200 clandestine meth labs broken up by federal agents in the state between October 2003 and August 2004. Pharmacies have 30 days to move the restricted cold medicines behind the counter, excluding liquid or gel cap medicines. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin