COLD MEDICINE RULES TAKE EFFECT JAN. 15

FOREST CITY -- Cold medication will be harder to come by in North
Carolina after Jan. 15. and officials are hoping that methamphetamine
will also be harder to come by when a new law goes into effect.

Legislation to curb production of the illegal and dangerous drug
methamphetamine will go into effect on Jan. 15, 2006. The Meth Lab
Prevention Act, a measure introduced by Sen. Walter Dalton,
D-Rutherford will limit the sale of medications that contain
pseudoephedrine and ephedrine. Claritin-D, Sudofed and Drixoral are
three examples of the medications that will be regulated by this new law.

The law will require that tablet forms of pseudoephedrine and
ephedrine, commonly found in over-the-counter cold remedies, to be
sold from behind a pharmacy counter.

Customers will also be required to show a photo ID to purchase cold
tablets that contain pseudoephe-drine. Purchases will be limited to
no more than 9 grams of pseudoephedrine within a 30-day period
without a prescription. Liquid and gel products will not be
restricted by the law because it is too difficult to isolate the
chemicals used to make meth from those products. Oklahoma has seen an
80 percent drop in meth labs since enacting a similar law last year.

"Law enforcement officials in other states tell us that cutting off
criminals' access to the key ingredients they need to make meth is
the only step that has a real impact on this problem," said state
Attorney General Roy Cooper. "Other states are moving ahead. If we
don't push ahead with stricter controls here, North Carolina will
find itself behind the curve." Sheriff C. Philip Byers said that he
hopes the law will continue to make it difficult for drug addicts to
make meth for themselves. "I definitely think the law will go a long
way in strengthening our ability to enforce laws here," said Byers.
"I want to thank (Rep.) Bobby England and (Sen.) Walter Dalton for
making sure we got some legislation to battle these labs." Byers said
that the law is very necessary.

"It will allow us to know who is purchasing the precursors and who is
attempting to purchase more than they are allowed," said Byers. Byers
said that he foresees some similar action by the South Carolina
Legislature or Congress. He would like to see pseudoephedrine tablets
behind the counter in all 50 states.

The Associated Press reported last week that a proposed federal law
may trump part of the state's law.

Pending federal legislation may restrict liquid and gel cap forms of
the medication. Federal officials have reported that cooks are using
the gel caps in some parts of the country to make meth.

Major retailers including Wal-Mart, CVS Corporation and Target
announced that they would put pseudoephedrine products behind
pharmacy counters in their stores before the law even passed.

Meth is a strong central nervous system stimulant that cheap to make
and often cooked in remote homes to hide the smell of the process.
The drug is cheap and the high lasts longer than cocaine. Meth
addicts often stay awake for days at a time and the addiction often
leads to violent or eradicate behavior.

Withdrawal symptoms include anxiety, fatigue, paranoia and
aggression. The SBI has estimated that only six addicts of 100
recover from the addiction. Western North Carolina has been hit hard
by a meth epidemic in the last five years and officials at every
level have been working to curb the spread of the dangerous drug.