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Cold Drugs Go Behind Counter? Measure in Congress Would Limit Access to Key Meth Ingredient

Posted on: Tuesday, 29 November 2005, 06:00 CST

By Hearst Newspapers

Consumers would have to show an ID to a pharmacist, sign a document and limit purchases of over-the-counter cold and allergy medicines under legislation moving in Congress.

Supporters of the measure say they want to block makeshift drug labs from using an ingredient in the medicines to manufacture methamphetamine -- a potent and addictive stimulant known as meth, crank, ice or crystal meth.

The drug, also known as "poor man's cocaine," is being manufactured using "recipes" available over the Internet and equipment such as coffee filters, Mason jars and plastic bottles.

Producing a batch of methamphetamine costs $100 in materials to create $1,000 worth of the drug and can take fewer than four hours, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

Joseph T. Rannazzisi, deputy chief of enforcement operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration, recently testified that meth "used to be associated only with a few outlaw motorcycle gangs."

But now, the use and manufacturing of this substance is a national problem, he said.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a physician, said he expects Congress will move next month to limit sales of cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine, a key methamphetamine ingredient.

The meth legislation was approved by the Senate and is awaiting consideration in the House of Representatives.

The measure, sponsored by Sens. Jim Talent, R-Mo., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., is modeled after efforts to curb production of the drug in Oklahoma, which saw an 80 percent drop in meth labs this year after barring over-the-counter sales of cold and allergy medicines.

The legislation would include these cold medicines under the federal Controlled Substances Act and limit the amount one person can buy to 9 grams per month (300 30-milligram pills) or 3.6 grams per transaction.

Cold medicines containing this key ingredient for meth include Sudafed, NyQuil, Advil Multi-Symptom Cold Medicine, Actifed Cold and Allergy and Tylenol Cold Medicine, according to Feinstein's office.

According to the 2003 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 12.3 million Americans had tried methamphetamine at least once -- up nearly 40 percent from 2000 and 156 percent from 1996.

In 2004, the survey notes that an estimated 1.3 million Americans regularly smoked, snorted or injected the drug, which delivers a jolt of energy that can cause insomnia, paranoia or sometimes violent rages.

Several states already restrict sales of over-the-counter cold and allergy medicines that contain ingredients that can be cooked into meth. Oregon requires a physician's prescription for cold medicines such as Sudafed.

IMPACT

Chronic use of meth hurts the ability of the brain to produce and release dopamine. As a result, the meth user must take higher or more frequent doses in order to experience the pleasurable effects or just to feel normal.

Source: Richmond Times - Dispatch

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