Tenn. Meth Law Restricts Cold Tablet Sales

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen signed a law Wednesday aimed at fighting the state’s soaring methamphetamine problem by regulating sale of over-the-counter cold medicines.

Small stores that don’t have pharmacies are now barred from selling medicines that contain the decongestant pseudoephedrine, a major component of meth.

In pharmacies, the medicines can be sold – but only in limited numbers, from behind the counter, with a record kept of each purchase.

Pharmacies have 30 days to move restricted cold medicines behind the counter. Liquid or gel cap medicines are excluded because they can’t be used to make meth.

Meth is “cooked” using the cold medicine and other easily obtainable items. 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. Also, 750 children were removed from the custody of meth abusers in the state last year.

Oklahoma, which last year enacted similar restrictions on the sale of cold medicines, has seen meth lab seizures drop 80 percent.