Area law enforcement officers and some pharmacists agree thatsome form of stricter law is required to help in the war againstmethamphetamine usage and manufacturing.

Dr. Robert Watts, a Brookhaven pharmacist, and Chad Griffen, anagent with the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics assignedspecifically to meth cases, said any of the laws underconsideration that would make meth more difficult to manufacturewould be good laws.

A variety of methamphetamine-related bills are pending in theMississippi Legislature.

On Wednesday, the House Judiciary A Committee passed a bill thatwould limit the sale of pseudoephedrine-based products to twopackages or six grams per transaction. The bill, which still needsapproval by the full House and Senate, would require that themedicine be stored behind a counter, in a locked display case orkept under video surveillance.

Most pharmacies already voluntarily help fight the war on methby limiting the amount of medicines containing pseudoephedrine theysell to two to four packs in a single sale. Pseudoephedrine is thekey ingredient in the manufacture of the drug and meth cannot bemade without it.

“To a certain extent, the larger retailers and pharmacies arealready cooperating, but in some of the smaller stores they’re moreinclined to sell it. It’s a money-maker for them,” Griffensaid.

Capt. Mike Aldridge of the MBN estimated that 80 percent ofmethamphetamine arrests result from retailers tipping lawenforcement officers of large purchases of pseudoephedrine-baseddrugs.

One of the most severe bills under consideration would requirepseudoephedrine medicines be kept behind the counter, which means aperson couldn’t just buy it off the shelf and would have to requestit. The bill is based on an Oklahoma law that has been creditedwith an 80 percent drop in meth lab seizures.

“That would be the only way to control it that I can see,” Wattssaid.

Griffen said he believes people would be willing to sacrifice aminor inconvenience to help get meth off the streets.

“From what I hear, people would be willing to wait an extra fiveminutes to get some control on meth,” Griffen said.

However, Griffen added that the law still has loopholes thatcould be abused. Teams of meth abusers could take turns going tothe counter at different stores to amass the amount of the drugthey need.

Watts suggested the law include adding pseudoephedrine to theExempt Narcotic Register. The register is used for non-prescriptionmedicines that are deemed too powerful to keep on the shelves forgeneral consumption. Purchasers of drugs listed in the register arerequired to sign it.

“It wouldn’t be a big problem to just add (pseudoephedrineproducts) to that book,” he said. “I don’t think it’ll be anyinconvenience. Everyone’s used to paperwork now when it comes todrugs.”

Law enforcement officers could compare the registers to compilea list of pseudoephedrine “shoppers” who are buying largequantities of the medicine.

Adding pseudoephedrine to the register would, however, limittheir sales to pharmacies, which are the only retailers who cansell drugs listed in the register.

Watts admitted that was a consideration and said the drugregulation board may have to consider expanding certain aspects ofthe registry to allow more retailers access to it.

He also said that putting restrictions on its sale withoutlimiting it to pharmacies would make it as difficult to enforce asillegal alcohol sales.

“Most convenience stores have it, so checking them might be moreof a problem than the drug stores. We have about four drug storesin town, but the convenience stores outnumber us by at least 10 toone,” he said.

Makers of the cold medicine say restricting the drugs to apharmacist’s counter could place a hardship on residents becausenot all pharmacies are open 24 hours a day. They also said otherstrategies are just as effective, such as community outreach andawareness.

Griffen agreed that awareness programs do turn away somepotential abusers and may even convert some current abusers.However, those programs have been in place for years and haven’tstemmed the tide of abuse.

Statistics would seem to agree.

In 1997, the Department of Mental Health had 161 admissions formeth addiction. That number increased to more than 1,500 admissionsin 2003, according to The Associated Press.