Re: Oklahoma restricts cold pill used for illegal drug

[Guest guest]

It is unfortunate it took the wife of a slain state trooper to push

this until they did something. This bill is called the Nikki Green

Bill for the state trooper with three small children that was shot

to death by an X fireman with a mobile meth lab, that was parked

beside the road and the state trooper stopped to assist and was shot

to death....Oklahoma being mostly farming community, it is to easy

to get the ingredients for meth, and a large problem because they

break up one and 6 spring up in different places....I hope this

makes it harder, but I am a doubting as Texas did'nt pass the

same bill and the border is a stone throw away...... Kathi in OK

> Oklahoma restricts cold pill used for illegal drug

>

> Last Updated: 2004-04-08 9:49:30 -0400 (Reuters Health)

>

> By Jon Herskovitz

>

> DALLAS (Reuters) - Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry signed a law on

Wednesday

> that restricts sales of some popular over-the-counter cold

medicines

> because they can be used as a key ingredient in home-cooked,

illegal

> methamphetamine.

>

> The law is the first of its kind in the United States and

restricts the

> sales of cold tablets made primarily with pseudoephedrine, which

is a

> widely used ingredient in decongestants such as Sudafed from

Pfizer Inc.

>

> The law, which takes effect immediately, restricts the sale of

tablets

> of pseudoephedrine to pharmacies. People buying the pills have to

show

> identification, sign a log book and are restricted to purchasing

nine

> grams, or 300, 30-mg tablets, a month.

>

> The rules may seem excessive, Oklahoma officials said, but the

problem

> of methamphetamine production is extensive. The drug that

sometimes goes

> by the names of " crank, " " crystal, " " meth " and " speed " is cheap and

> relatively simple to produce.

>

> Several other states are considering measures to cut down on

> methamphetamine production by restricting the sale of

pseudoephedrine.

>

> " Other states are already contacting us because they believe, as

we do,

> that this legislation is the only way to impact the number of

illegal

> meth labs, " Henry, a Democrat, said after signing the measure into

law.

>

> Oklahoma is one of the top states in the illegal manufacture of

> methamphetamine, with more than 1,300 drug labs seized in 2003,

state

> law enforcement officials said.

>

> TRAGIC TOLL

>

> Other states looking at laws to restrict pseudoephedrine include

> Minnesota, Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee and Iowa.

>

> " Pfizer understands the tragic toll that methamphetamine has taken

in

> Oklahoma and many other communities, " a Pfizer spokesman said.

>

> " We and others in the industry have been working closely with

state and

> local officials across the country in a mutual battle to address

this

> problem, without unduly restricting access to safe and effective

> medicines like Sudafed that millions of law-abiding consumers rely

on, "

> he said.

>

> Apart from the problems of illegal drugs, small meth labs can

produce

> toxic chemicals and production also entails a high risk for

explosions.

>

> According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration,

methamphetamine

> has hit America's small towns hard.

>

> " Its recipe is relatively easy; anyone who can read and measure

can make

> methamphetamine, " Rogelio Guevara, told a U.S. House committee

last July

> when he was the DEA's chief of operations, " ingredients are not

only

> readily available, but also inexpensive, " he said.

>

> Items used in producing the drugs include rock salt, battery acid,

red

> phosphorous road flares and anhydrous ammonia, a fertilizer not

readily

> available for purchase but found in storage tanks in many rural

> communities, he said.

>

> The highly addictive drug is a powerful stimulant that enhances

mood and

> body movement. Prolonged use can result in symptoms like those of

> Parkinson's disease, a severe movement disorder, according to the

> National Institute on Drug Abuse.

>

>

>

>

> I'll tell you where to go!

>

> Mayo Clinic in Rochester

> http://www.mayoclinic.org/rochester

>

> s Hopkins Medicine

> http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org