Pseudoephedrine law cited for dramatic drop in meth labs

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- The number of methamphetamine labs in Oklahoma has dropped 70 percent since state lawmakers approved restrictions on the sale of cold medicines that contain the illegal drug's

Monday, June 21st 2004, 4:16 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- The number of methamphetamine labs in Oklahoma has dropped 70 percent since state lawmakers approved restrictions on the sale of cold medicines that contain the illegal drug's key ingredient, authorities said Monday.

The dramatic decline, recorded over the past three months, followed passage of legislation this spring that banned store sales of popular medications like Sudafed and Claritin-D that contain pseudoephedrine, the main ingredient in methamphetamine.

The medications may still be sold in pharmacies, where they must be kept behind the counter and sold only to people who present photo identification and sign for the medicine.

A total of 90 methamphetamine labs were reported to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation in March by law enforcement agencies statewide, authorities said. That figure declined to 64 in April and fell further to 29 in May, officials said.

Gov. Brad Henry signed the legislation into law on April 7 and it did not become fully effective for another 60 days.

"I don't believe I have ever seen a piece of legislation have this immediate impact," said Scott Rowland, attorney for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control. "I quite frankly am surprised that it is this high."

OBN officials said a further decline in meth labs is possible in the coming months as pseudoephedrine inventories are consumed by producers.

"It will take a while for it to dry up," spokesman Mark Woodward said.

The legislation was drafted to restrict access to the highly addictive drug's main ingredient and provide new tools to force addicts into treatment programs, said Rep. John Nance, R-Bethany, the legislation's author.

The measure, the only one of its kind in the nation, received bipartisan support from lawmakers desperate for a way to slow what some have described as a meth epidemic in the state, which reported 1,236 labs in 2003.

"The ready availability of pseudoephedrine has been squelched," Rowland said. "No longer can you walk into a convenience store and buy pseudoephedrine unchecked by anybody."

Law enforcement authorities in Texas have reported an increase in the number of people crossing the state line from Oklahoma to buy the products since the law went into effect.

The law's success will pay huge dividends to taxpayers, said OBN Director Lonnie Wright.

Instead of chasing meth labs, narcotics agents can devote resources to other investigations, including long-term drug trafficking cases.

Fewer meth labs will mean less money spent on cleaning up hazardous materials commonly used in the production process. Each lab costs up to $2,500 to clean up, authorities said.

And fewer meth labs will mean fewer people will become addicted, reducing prison and health care costs.

"The little bit of sacrifice that the citizens of Oklahoma have made...has resulted in the savings literally of probably down the road tens of millions of dollars," Wright said.

U.S. Rep. Brad Carson, D-Okla., has said he will sponsor similar legislation on the federal level and other states are introducing bills patterned after Oklahoma's, including Texas and Arkansas.

"The bottom line is this law is working," Rowland said. "The impact is great, the inconvenience is minimal."