PHOENIX COLD-PILL LAW TAKES EFFECT TUESDAY

If you've got the sniffles and are looking for an over-the-counter
remedy, get prepared to whip out photo identification and share some
personal information with the store clerk or pharmacist.

Two new Phoenix laws that take effect Tuesday require customers who
buy any cold medication containing pseudoephedrine to write down
their name, date of birth and address in a log book that shop owners
will turn over to police each month. Retailers also will track the
quantities of pseudoephedrine that customers buy.

Phoenix officials laud the new restrictions as a way to ratchet up
their fight against methamphetamine. Pseudoephedrine is a crucial
ingredient in cooking the illegal drug. advertisement

"Meth is a huge, huge problem in our community and really across the
nation," Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris said. "I think these laws
are going to be effective because they're going to be a deterrent.
Anything that makes it more difficult to get the materials to make
methamphetamine is going to make it effective."

In the past 12 months, law enforcement officials busted nearly 150
meth labs in Phoenix.

Phoenix police Sgt. Don Sherrard said the logs will be a useful tool
for the narcotics detectives.

"It will give us direct information and let us spot trends in
purchases," he said. "And it works on the paranoia that
methamphetamine naturally creates. If they have to show ID, it's
going to stop a lot of them from doing that."

Retailers also are required to keep products that contain
pseudoephedrine locked up or behind the counter.

Cottonwood, Tucson and Camp Verde have approved similar laws, but
Phoenix appears to be the first to include a forfeiture clause. That
means that if police spot products with pseudoephedrine on open
shelves instead of being restricted from public access, police can
seize the medications and destroy them. The ordinance allows police
to give one warning to store officials, and court hearings could be
held before the products are destroyed.

"I think that it might help some," said Frank Roberts, 39, of
Phoenix. "And I think the police have really put a big dent in meth.
They've restricted so many of the ingredients that the drug is not as
potent as it was two years ago. But they're never going to get it
completely off the streets."

Customers without a current driver's license or passport or without a
tribal, military or state-issued identification card will not be able
to buy the products at all.

Jose Chavez, 19, of Phoenix sees a flaw in the law because it doesn't
allow people without identification to get simple remedies.

"What if you don't have ID?" he said. "It's going to be tough to get
the medication you need for your family.

"And (the laws) might help, but if people are sick, they're not going
to want to be waiting in line," he said. "They're going to want to
get in and out. It's going to be an inconvenience."

Karen Giroux, director of retail regulatory agency relations for
Bashas' grocery stores, said that it's likely that once consumers
learn more about why the new laws are in place, there may be less frustration.