Oklahoma restricts cold pill used for illegal drug

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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