CONGRESS MOVES TO CURB NATION'S METH PROBLEM

WASHINGTON -- Responding to methamphetamine abuse that plagues much of
the country, congressional leaders hope to pass legislation this week
aimed at making it harder to obtain an ingredient in common cold
medicine that can be used to make the illegal drug.

Under the measure, retailers would have to keep nonprescription cold
and allergy remedies containing pseudoephedrine behind store counters.
Buyers would be limited on how much they could purchase and would be
required to show identification and sign a log book.

"The growing meth epidemic in our country shows no deference to
district or party line," Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Corona), co-chairman of
the 135-member Congressional Caucus to Fight and Control
Methamphetamine, said Tuesday. "This is an issue everyone can agree is
wreaking havoc on communities across the nation."

Although the effort to combat methamphetamine has strong bipartisan
support, the measure has been attached to an extension of the
controversial anti-terrorism law, the Patriot Act. Renewal of the
Patriot Act is uncertain because a number of Republicans and Democrats
argue that the law infringes on the civil liberties of U.S. citizens.

Sen. Jim Talent (R-Mo.) joined with Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)
in pushing the anti-methamphetamine provisions.

Talent said the measure would "make it harder for dishonest people to
get the ingredients they need to make meth, while ensuring honest
people can access the medicine they need."

A number of states, including California, have enacted similar
legislation. Oregon, with perhaps the strictest law, requires a
doctor's prescription for medicine containing pseudoephedrine, such as
Sudafed and Claritin D.

Some stores have voluntarily limited sales of such cold and allergy
medications and moved them behind counters.

But Rich Chrismer, a spokesman for Talent, said the federal
legislation would keep people from "crossing state lines to get the
products they need to cook meth."

The trade association representing drugstore chains had expressed a
preference for a federal standard, contending that a "patchwork of
more than three dozen different state requirements, in addition to
scores of local ordinances in cities, towns, and counties throughout
the country" confused consumers and law enforcement.

State officials succeeded in persuading federal lawmakers not to
prevent them from enacting stronger laws.

Methamphetamine abuse has been a particular scourge in California, and
the federal legislation would be stronger than state law. The
California statute restricts the purchase of medicine containing
pseudoephedrine to no more than three packages or 9 grams in a single
transaction.

The federal legislation would limit the sale of such medicines to any
person to 9 grams a month (roughly 300 pills) and 3.6 grams (about 30
pills) in a single day. Violators would be subject to a $25,000 fine.

The federal legislation is patterned after a law in Oklahoma credited
with bringing about a steep decline in methamphetamine labs in the
state. Last year, 43 so-called super labs, capable of producing large
amounts of the drug, were discovered by authorities in California,
more than in any other state.

In terms of all labs seized, Missouri was first with 1,113, followed
by Tennessee with 932. A total of 498 labs were found in California,
including 93 in San Bernardino County, 68 in Riverside County and 46
in Los Angeles County, according to the state attorney general's office.

Elizabeth Assey, a spokeswoman for the Consumer Healthcare Products
Assn., which represents manufacturers and distributors of
nonprescription, over-the-counter medicines, said that her group
supported the federal legislation. But she added: "The key is going to
be addressing the demand . Putting medicine behind the counter isn't
going to wipe out" methamphetamine problems.

Congressional leaders and White House officials on Tuesday stepped up
their efforts to gather support for renewing the Patriot Act that
includes the anti-methamphetamine provision.

Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales traveled to Capitol Hill to warn
lawmakers that failure to do so before adjourning for the year would
harm the nation's ability to fight terrorism.

A coalition of Republicans and Democrats, led by Sen. Patrick J. Leahy
(D-Vt.), argued that Congress needed more time to rework the bill,
which Congress passed shortly after terrorists struck the World Trade
Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.

Civil libertarians have urged more judicial review and greater
congressional oversight of the way the FBI and other agencies use po