Word: meth
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...register. The medicines contain pseudoephedrine, a decongestant that works by shrinking blood vessels in the nose, lungs and other mucous membranes. Drug traffickers long ago discovered they could dissolve the pills in common chemicals and heat the mixture until the liquid evaporates and a powerful stimulant powder--known as meth, crank, crystal or ice--remains. As a result, 23 other states are considering similar legislation, and last week a federal bill, modeled on Oklahoma's statute, was introduced in the U.S. Senate by a group of bipartisan lawmakers from across the country, including states in which hospital admission rates...
...momentum is building for stricter laws because police officers across rural America are fed up with the time, money and danger involved in dismantling meth labs hidden in remote farms and forests. Originally popular with motorcycle gangs and long-haul truckers, the drug--which is smoked, snorted or injected--can be cooked up in a few hours from a combination of over-the-counter drugs, rubbing alcohol, fertilizers and other chemicals with recipes found on the Internet. Although an estimated three-quarters of the meth used in the U.S. is smuggled in by Mexican gangs, more than 8,500 domestic...
Some 65 officials from 14 states gathered in St. Louis, Mo., in December to push for stricter laws, despite opposition from retailers and drug companies defending the $1.8 billion cold-remedy market. According to Lonnie Wright, director of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, Schedule V reclassification has "revolutionized" meth enforcement in the state, with busts dropping from more than 100 a month in 2003 to about 20. The rate could fall further in the next few months as every Oklahoma pharmacy gets a new computer program showing whether a customer has recently bought pseudoephedrine products elsewhere. "Simply by putting this...
...other states balk at the Oklahoma model, they may find themselves in the position of next-door Kansas, which saw a rash of meth cooks cross the state line after Oklahoma passed its law. "Any state in the Midwest that doesn't pass the bill this year has the opportunity to become the meth capital of the region," says Corporal Jason Grellner, the Franklin County, Mo., deputy who organized the St. Louis meeting. "And believe me, nobody wants that." Texas is considering going even further, requiring a prescription for any drug--such as some Sudafed products--whose sole active ingredient...
Pfizer, the company that makes Sudafed, is moving to respond. In February it begins shipping Sudafed PE, a second line of its cold drug, which replaces pseudoephedrine with phenylephrine, a decongestant that cannot be used in the production of meth and has been available for years in Europe. But the company is also eager to point out ways in which the legislative backlash may be misguided: Pfizer spokesman Jay Kosminsky says that a problem with some current state laws, including Oklahoma's, is that they exempt liquid or gel-cap medications and multi-ingredient medications that contain pseudoephedrine...