Carson expected to take state meth law to Congress

TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ U.S. Rep. Brad Carson is expected to announce Monday that he'll file federal legislation banning store sales of cold medicines used to make methamphetamine. <br/><br/>Gov. Brad

Saturday, May 15th 2004, 10:04 am

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ U.S. Rep. Brad Carson is expected to announce Monday that he'll file federal legislation banning store sales of cold medicines used to make methamphetamine.

Gov. Brad Henry signed similar state legislation in April, making Oklahoma the only state where medicines containing pseudoephedrine can only be sold in pharmacies to customers showing identification.

Pseudoephedrine is the active ingredient in methamphetamine, which politicians and police say is a major problem in Oklahoma and other states.

Carson, an Oklahoma Democrat who's also running for the U.S. Senate, has scheduled a press conference Monday in Oklahoma City to announce what his office called ``major meth legislation.''

``Congressman Carson is very interested in taking a lot of the same positive steps that the state Legislature has accomplished in combating meth abuse to a national level,'' Carson's spokeswoman, Kendra Horn said Friday.

Horn would not elaborate and said Carson was still working on the legislation.

But District Attorney Rob Wallace in Poteau said earlier this week that Carson will announce that he'll file a bill similar to the state's new law, a bill that would remove common cold medicines from store counters across the country.

Wallace told The Associated Press that district attorneys have been talking to Carson about it and indicated it would be a significant help to law enforcement. He said he and Carson have had positive conversations about the state's new law, known as House Bill 2176.

``Carson is going to drop a bill in Washington that looks just like House Bill 2176,'' Wallace said.

Wallace said the new state law will be great for law enforcement in the center of the state, but won't work as well in border counties like his LeFlore County.

``We're just going to get pseudoephedrine products coming across the border,'' he said. ``The better practice here is to cut it off at the source.''

Earlier this year, Carson filed legislation to provide additional federal funding to combat methamphetamine through law enforcement, education, prevention and treatment. It would also provide funds to assist with contaminated property cleanup.