Anti-meth measures attract states' interest

TULSA, Okla. -- After years of locking up methamphetamine makers only to see illegal drug labs multiply on urban stovetops and country roads, Oklahoma got tough.

It locked up the meth makers' cold medicine.

The state banned over-the-counter sales of Sudafed and other decongestants used to produce meth, and ordered that the medicines be placed behind pharmacy counters. Ten months later, meth lab seizures in Oklahoma are down more than 80 percent.

State officials believe many clandestine cooks have closed their kitchens because of the crackdown on pseudoephedrine.

"To see the sort of diminution we've seen, there is absolutely no other reason," said Lonnie Wright, who heads Oklahoma's drug agency.

Now, other states are looking to lock up their pseudoephedrine, too.

Oklahoma and several other states have limited the amount of pseudoephedrine customers can buy at one time, but Oklahoma went further by requiring that the drug be dispensed by a pharmacist. Customers do not need a prescription for pseudoephedrine, but they have to produce ID and sign for the drug.

Oklahoma averaged 105 meth lab busts a month before the law took effect last April. By November, the number had dropped to 19.

In Oklahoma, pseudoephedrine can no longer be sold in groceries and convenience stores. Signs on empty drugstore shelves direct people looking for relief from stuffy heads to the pharmacist. The law applies only to pills containing pseudoephedrine. Gel and liquid forms, which normally are not used to make meth, are still available over the counter.

Oklahoma's law bears the names of three state troopers killed in confrontations with suspected meth users. Among them was Nik Green, who used to weep over the people he had arrested who were caught in meth's iron grip, his widow said.

"He said, 'I really feel like this is one of Satan's tools,"' said Linda Green, who helped push for the law after Green was shot while investigating a suspicious vehicle on a rural road.

Other states' interest

Along with legislators in Missouri, lawmakers in neighboring Arkansas, Kansas and Texas also are looking to restrict over-the-counter pseudoephedrine.

"When you see Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Texas get on board with the controls, I think you'll see Oklahoma's numbers drop again," said Tom Cunningham, drug task force coordinator for the Oklahoma District Attorneys Council.

Politicians in Washington, Idaho, Minnesota, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Connecticut, Georgia and Tennessee have also pushed for laws requiring pharmacists to dispense pseudoephedrine or will be considering such legislation this year.

Oregon's pharmacy board in October approved restrictions patterned on the Oklahoma law. And Illinois began requiring stores this month to lock pseudoephedrine tablets in cabinets or behind counters.

Pfizer Inc., the maker of Sudafed, does not oppose restrictions on the medication, said spokesman Jay Kosminsky. "Every state has got to get the balance right between access to legitimate consumers and preventing access to criminals," he said.

But the company believes it is possible to secure the drug in groceries and other stores, not just pharmacies, he said. Meanwhile, Pfizer plans this month to introduce a new form of Sudafed made without pseudoephedrine.

The National Association of Chain Drug Stores does not necessarily believe the Oklahoma law is the way to go, said Mary Ann Wagner, vice president of pharmacy regulatory affairs. She said customers miss out on hundreds of pseudoephedrine products that cannot be displayed behind the pharmacy counter.

The group believes the law's apparent success may have more to do with impeding backdoor sales of cases of pseudoephedrine by rogue retailers, she said.

The head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has referred to Oklahoma's "hard-hitting" law in urging states to fight small labs. But a spokesman said the agency wants more data before drawing conclusions about the approach.