COLD MEDICINES HARDER TO BUY

Congress May Follow States' Anti-Meth Laws Restricting Sale

WASHINGTON - Finding relief for that runny nose might get tougher
soon, thanks to other people who are using common cold medicines to
make an illegal, highly addictive drug.

Following the lead of more than 30 states, Congress is considering
legislation to restrict sales of pseudoephedrine, the main active
ingredient in Sudafed, Claritin-D and other popular cold remedies.
It's also a key ingredient in methamphetamine, a drug that has swept
the country the past decade, overwhelming law enforcement officials
and devastating communities.

Under the congressional proposals, pills containing pseudoephedrine
would be kept behind pharmacy counters, and purchasers would have to
show identification and sign a form each time they bought the pills.
Buying more than 7.5 grams per month would be banned. That's about
two boxes of full-strength Sudafed.

The legislation also would commit more resources to local anti-meth
law enforcement programs and to stop the importation of ingredients
used to make meth.

The Senate already has approved the legislation. The House is
considering a measure that wouldn't restrict pseudoephedrine sales.
The two chambers are working to settle the differences between the bills.

The Senate proposal, sponsored by Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.,
and Jim Talent, R-Mo., is based on an Oklahoma law that took effect
in recent years. Oklahoma officials say it has cut dramatically meth
production in the state, though crystal meth - made from different
chemicals - still poses a problem.

"It's a wonderful law," said Charles Pearson, the sheriff in Muskogee
County, Okla., where reports of meth labs have fallen dramatically
since cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine were put behind
pharmacy counters. "As far as finding your backyard methamphetamine
lab, it's just a thing of the past. We still got 'em, we probably
always will, but it's nothing like it was."

Meth has become a national scourge. The fiercely addictive drug hooks
users, taxes social service agencies and contaminates locations where
it is "cooked."

Congress has sought to deal with the problem, but many states in the
Midwest and the South have already set up rigorous laws designed to crack down.

National estimates of the costs of combating the drug are not
available, but local officials around the country say meth takes up
more and more of their resources.

Tennessee earmarked $7 million for anti-meth programs this year,
according to Gov. Phil Bredesen's office. Indiana's anti-meth task
force estimated that the drug costs the state at least $100 million
each year. Meth cost Portland, Ore., and its surrounding county
$102.3 million last year, according to an analysis by ECONorthwest.

Oklahoma's pseudoephedrine law has been well received by the public,
even though it makes it harder to get cold medicine, law enforcement
officials and pharmacists say. Police can pull pharmacies' logs of
who buys pseudoephedrine, allowing them to track anyone who tries to
buy the maximum amount allowed at more than one store per month.

The National Association of Chain Drug Stores, a trade group that
represents pharmacies and drug stores, supports the national
proposal, as do several national law enforcement groups. The powerful
lobby for the drug industry, Pharmaceutical Research and
Manufacturers of America, says it hasn't taken a position.