MESSAGE
| DATE | 2005-01-27 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [hangout] New Cold Medication Restrictions will make them Pharmacy only
|
US bill would restrict cold pills to fight 'meth'
26 Jan 2005 22:09:35 GMT
Source: Reuters
WASHINGTON, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Americans wanting to buy many common cold
medicines would have to go to a drug store and ask the pharmacist under
legislation introduced on Wednesday aimed at fighting the spread of the
illegal stimulant methamphetamine.
The proposed Senate bill would apply to medicines, such as Sudafed, that
contain the decongestant pseudoephedrine -- the main ingredient in
methamphetamine, or "meth."
The medicines now sold widely from grocery shelves and elsewhere would
would have to be stored behind the pharmacy counter and dispensed by a
pharmacist or a pharmacy technician, although a prescription would not
be needed. Purchasers would have to sign for it and show identification.
The aim is to help fight "crooks and cooks" who buy common cold and
sinus pills and turn them into dangerous meth in makeshift labs,
Missouri Republican Sen. Jim Talent said. Methamphetamine is a growing
problem in states across the country, and doctors do not have good
techniques of treating addiction.
Similar efforts to restrict pseudoephedrine sales have failed in the
past because big drug makers opposed it, backers of the legislation
acknowledged. But this version is modeled on a successful program in
Oklahoma and already has significant bipartisan support, they said.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat and co-sponsor of the bill,
said her staff had gone to a local supermarket and purchased many boxes
of cold pills "and nobody lifted an eyelid."
In rural areas where pharmacies are scarce, other outlets could sell the
medicines behind the counter.
The legislation limits purchases to nine grams, or about 300 pills, in a
30-day period. That many pills could be turned into about 25 doses of
methamphetamine in an illicit lab, an aide to Feinstein said. More than
9,000 such labs were seized by authorities in the United States in 2002,
the most recent year statistics are available, the aide said.
The legislation would fund state programs to track pseudoephedrine
purchases by computer.
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