New restrictions on cold medicine aimed at meth makers

08:54 AM CDT on Monday, August 1, 2005

KHOU.com

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A new state law that takes effect Monday may make it harder for you to buy cold medicine next time you have the sniffles.

KHOU-TV

Medicines containing pseudoephedrine come off the shelves to be stored behind counters. Pseudoephedrine is one of the main ingredients in methamphetamine production.

Starting at midnight Monday, medicines containing pseudoephedrine must now be stored behind pharmacy counters. The new law also requires buyers to give their names and show identification proving that they are older than 16 at the time of purchase.

Pseudoephedrine is one of the main ingredients in the production of methamphetamine. Use and production of the drug has grown across the country in the past several years. Police seized 20 meth labs across Texas in 1998, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. Four years later, that number jumped to 350.

"I welcome this. This is a good thing," said Kroger pharmacist Susan Curtis. "We're seeing a legitimate drug being used for an illegitimate purpose."

More than 40 states, including Oklahoma and Oregon, have enacted or are considering restrictions on the sale of over-the-counter cold medications. More than a half a dozen drug store chains have imposed similar bans.

Oregon's law, which requires that pseudoephedrine-based medicines be sold by prescription only, may be the toughest in the country. The state has the highest rate of rate of meth treatment in the United States.

States that have put restrictions on peudoephedrine sales have seen dramatic drops in the number of meth labs. Oklahoma has experienced a 50 percent dip since April.

Drug policy experts say the laws aren't perfect and may be responsible for pushing meth labs into neighboring states with more lax restrictions. Also, the laws don't address the supply of meth coming from Mexico. The country is the No. 1 supplier of the drug in the U.S.